Falcons Slash Scarlet Hawks on Senior Day

MEQUON, Wis. -  The CUW men's volleyball team had a successful Senior Day on Saturday after taking the 3-1 victory over the Scarlet Hawks with scores of 26-24, 25-14, 23-25, and 25-20. 

With the win, the Falcons continue their impressive home record, improving to 7-3. 

CUW also improved to 7-3 in NACC play, and its overall record is now 11-9. 

The initial frame set the stage for the rest of the contest as CUW pulled out the tight 26-24 victory in a tight back-and-forth set. 

Sophomore Tate Miller (Anthem, Ariz.) gave Concordia their first lead of the contest at 10-9, while fellow sophomore Will Wood (Savage, Minn.) would recapture the lead at the 15-14 mark.

Throughout the first set, the score would continue to be tight as neither squad built more than a two-point lead. 

Down 18-20, the Falcons secured four of five points to take the 21-22 lead as Tate Miller recorded a service ace while junior Lucas Beres (Germantown, Wis.) and senior Spencer Herman (Kimberly, Wis.) recorded a kill. 

But looking to take the first set, Illinois Tech retook the lead at 23-22. 

Out of a timeout, the Blue and White tied the game at 23-23 following a kill from senior Andy Ellingham (Burlington, Wis.), while the subsequent point saw the Scarlet Hawks take the lead, bringing up match point in their favor.

A Miller-Herman connection once against tied the score at 24-24, while an attack error now gave CUW the opportunity to clinch the first frame, forcing another IIT timeout. 

But the Falcons were noticed by the timeout and, out of the timeout, secured the first set 26-24 by a swing from Spencer Herman. 

The Falcon's momentum would carry over into the second set, as CUW went on multiple runs throughout the second frame to secure the 25-14 win. 

In that second set, the Blue and White recorded a .412 hitting percentage. 

In the early parts of the set, Andy Ellingham had a pair of kills to extend CUW's lead to 5-2. 

Later, two errors combined with a kill from Spencer Herman helped the Falcons enjoy a 14-8 margin. 

Another 4-0 pushed the Falcons to the 20-point mark as Spencer Herman had a service ace while a second 4-0 run, all on Illinois Tech errors, locked up the second-set victory. 

But the Falcons would regroup at the break and take the second set at 25-14, as Illinois Tech went on multiple small runs.

Determined to make a comeback, Illinois Tech was able to steal the third set 25-23, as the Scarlet Hawks made a small run toward the back end of the set to sneak by CUW. 

But the flock refused to let the match go five sets, as they quickly doubled the score of the Scarlet Hawks, going up 10-5 following a pair of IIT errors. 

Meanwhile, the Falcons put together another 4-0 run to go up 15-10, featuring two kills from Will Wood.

Nearing the end of the set, up 19-18, the Falcons scored four straight, featuring three kills from three different Falcons to go up 23-18. 

Another attack from Will Wood put CUW at match point, while a service error from Illinois Tech clinched the four-set victory, as they hit .364 in that fourth set, along with 12 kills. 

Three Falcons had double-digit kills in the victory, as Spencer Herman had a team-high 15 kills, while Will Wood had 13 kills, followed by Lucas Beres with 10. 

Herman also led the flock with two service aces. 

Meanwhile, junior setter Logan Kebisek (Brookfield, Wis.) had 43 assists. 

Defensively, sophomore Parker Pearson (Keller, Texas) had 11 digs on the day, while Lucas Beres had a game-high six total blocks. 

The Falcons will wrap up the regular season next week as they host the Eagles of Benedictine on Wednesday, April 3^rd, before closing out the regular season on Friday at Rockford.