Spartans Silence Falcons

AURORA, Ill. – The Spartans defended their home court on Saturday night with a victory over the Concordia Wisconsin men's volleyball team. The Black and Blue bounced the Falcons with a 25-15, 25-21-25-16 victory. The result sends Concordia to 8-7 on the season and to 3-2 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. The Spartans move to 6-9 with their fourth-straight victory and to 3-1 in the NACC.

The Falcons tied the first set at six with a kill from senior Andy Ellingham (Burlington, Wis.). The Spartans broke the set open with a 6-0 run. The Falcons were able to trim the deficit to 13-9, but the Spartans responded with a 4-0 run and claimed the first set at 25-15.

The birds started the second set with a kill from sophomore Lucas Beres (Germantown, Wis.), but the Spartans took the three points to take back the lead. The Black and Blue ballooned the lead up to 9-3 before the Falcons called timeout and responded with a pair of kills from Andy Ellingham and an attack error to trim the deficit to 6-9. The birds continued to claw back and tied the set at 13 with a service ace from freshman Tate Miller (Anthem, Ariz.). A 4-1 run gave the Spartans some breathing room at 21-16, but CUW responded with a kill from sophomore Logan Kebisek (Brookfield, Wis.) a service ace from Andy Ellingham and a kill from freshman Ben Kayser (Milwaukee, Wis.) to force an Aurora timeout at 21-19. A 4-2 run for the Black and Blue closed the set at 25-21.  

The Spartans surged to an early 5-0 lead to start the third set. The Falcons fought back and cut the Aurora lead to 9-7 with a kill from Tate Miller, but that is the closest CUW could get in the third set.

Junior Spencer Herman (Kimberly, Wis.) led the Concordia attack with nine kills on the night.

Logan Kebisek collected 22 assists and freshman Parker Pearson (Keller, Texas) picked up a team-high 10 digs.

Andy Ellingham hit .625 on the evening with six kills.

The Falcons posted a 29-28 advantage in kills and a 27-26 advantage in assists on Saturday. CUW also notched 26 digs to the 23 for Aurora. 

The Falcons look to bounce back on Wednesday at Edgewood.