Record setting blocking performance guides Falcons to victory

CHICAGO – Concordia Wisconsin's front line defense came to play on Friday night with a program record 15 total blocks during an exhilarating 3-2 (19-25, 25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 17-15) victory at Illinois Tech during NACC play.

THE BASICS
Final Score: Concordia Wisconsin 3, Illinois Tech 2 (19-25, 25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 17-15)
Location: Keating Center (Chicago, Ill.)
Records: Concordia Wisconsin 7-6, 3-3 NACC; Illinois Tech 2-9, 1-5 NACC

QUOTING HEAD COACH CURTIS MADSON
"After a tough week of quality opponents and some mental lapses, I couldn't be more proud of our guys for how they came out and competed tonight. IIT is a tough and physical team. They gave us all we could handle and didn't give a thing to us tonight. It's great to see our guys rebound and get back to a high level on the court. We were disciplined to our fundamentals and it showed tonight. Now we need to bring that attention to detail and effort into tomorrow's match against another great team in Aurora."

HOW IT HAPPENED
- After dropping the opening set, Concordia Wisconsin responded by winning the next two and gaining some much-needed momentum. They had the fourth set tied at 18-18, but Illinois Tech went on a 7-1 scoring run to even the match.
- As was the case for most of the net, the Falcons front line defense was playing well, especially in the fifth set. After recording four blocks in the first and second sets, they continued their impressive performance with four blocks in the final stanza. Two of the final three points scored by Concordia Wisconsin were the result of blocks.
- The Falcons record-setting 15 total blocks are five more than last year's 10 on March 28, 2018 against Dominican.
- Sophomore Isaac Glynn (Byron, Minn.) and freshman Cody Sciabica (Henderson, Nev.) each had six blocks in the victory, while sophomore Blake Schwandt (Kenosha, Wis.) had five.
- Freshman James Althoff (Kenosha, Wis.) ended with 23 kills, 12 digs and four blocks. Freshman Connor Muff (Kenosha, Wis.) recorded 38 assists, seven kills, two service aces and two blocks.
- Sophomore Sam Rovik (Silver Lake, Wis.) had 11 kills and eight digs.
- Easton Kays recorded 22 kills, while Lukasz Kupiec and Michael Johnson had 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Michael Ganczar had 42 assists and Derek Bostick dug 17 attack attempts.

MATCH NOTES
- Concordia Wisconsin hit .215 in the match and posted an impressive .440 (14K-3E-25A) in the third set.

NEXT ON THE SCHEDULE
- Concordia Wisconsin will travel to Aurora for a Saturday 1 pm NACC contest.