CHICAGO, Ill. — The Wittenberg men's volleyball team defeated North Park and Aurora in a tri-match on Saturday afternoon at North Park, extending its current win streak to five games. The Tigers defeated North Park 25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 25-14 and got a 26-24, 25-15, 16-25, 25-22 win over Aurora.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (6-5 overall), North Park (3-6 overall), Aurora (1-5 overall)
• Venue: North Park Gymnasium - Chicago, Ill.
• Wittenberg is now 1-1 all-time against North Park and 2-0 all-time against Aurora.
• Saturday's games marked three straight for the Tigers in Chicago, as they defeated Illinois Tech 3-1 on Friday night.
• Third-year head coach Nathan Matthews is now 36-32 all-time at Wittenberg.

Stat Leaders - Game 1

• Sophomore Eli Halverson (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin) led the Tigers with 14 kills while hitting .429.
• Freshman Reese Monnin (Xenia, Ohio/Carroll) added nine kills to go with eight from sophomore Michael Yurk (Indianapolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) and seven fromsenior Tom Supan (Medina, Ohio/Medina). Supan added five service aces.
• Senior Andrew Diaz de Padilla (Nipmo, Calif./Central Coast New Tech) posted a team-best 43 assists.
• Yurk led WU with 13 digs, and Supan added 10 digs.
• Ty Ingrao led North Park with 20 kills.

Game 1 - Wittenberg 3, North Park 1

• The Tigers jumped out to an 11-1 lead in the first set. That run was highlighted by three aces from Supan and one kill each from Yurk and sophomore Trajan Kress (Cincinnati, Ohio/Sycamore).
• Wittenberg continued to hold the lead for the remainder of the set en route to the 25-21 victory.
• The second set was much closer, featuring 10 ties scores leading to a 20-all deadlock before NPU scored five of the next seven points to tie the match at one set apiece.
• The third set was another tight one that saw the teams play to a 22-all tie. The Tigers scored the next three points via a kill from Yurk and two NPU attack errors to win the set.
• The teams played to a 7-all tie in the fourth set before the Tigers began to take command with a 15-5 run capped by a kill from Halverson for a 22-12 edge.
• With WU up 23-14, Halverson clinched the match for the Tigers with two consecutive kills.

Stat Leaders - Game 2

• Yurk tallied a team-high 20 kills and hit .342 while adding nine digs.
• Halverson added 16 kills and a .238 hitting percentage.
• Diaz de Padilla finished with a season-high 46 assists.
• Sophomore Dominic Smith (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont) led the team with 15 digs.
• Halverson and sophomore Moose Harper (Columbus, Ohio/Western Reserve Academy) had four blocks each.
• Josh McLellan led Aurora with 16 kills.

Game 2 - Wittenberg 3, Aurora 1

• Aurora opened up a 17-13 lead in the opening set, but Wittenberg answered with an 8-4 run to tie the score at 21-all. The score was tied at 22, 23 and 24 before WU closed out the 26-24 victory with two straight points via a kill from Halverson and an Aurora attack error.
• The Tigers made easy work of the second set, racing out to a 20-12 lead en route to the 25-15 victory.
• With the score tied at 11-all in the third set, Aurora put together a 14-5 closing spurt to stay alive in the match.
• Aurora scored four of the first five points in the fourth set, but Wittenberg came back to tie the score at 6-all early on.
• The teams later played to a 20-all tie before WU scored the next three points on kills from senior Kurt Klamfoth (Gahanna, Ohio/Lincoln), Yurk and Halverson.
• Aurora scored the next two points to cut the deficit to one, 23-22, but the Tigers closed out the match with two points via kills from Yurk and Diaz de Padilla.

Quote - Head coach Nathan Matthews

• "I don't have adequate words to describe what our team accomplished today. The injuries continued to pile on, but their determination to find a way couldn't be stopped. This weekend unquestionably proved that we have a special team on our hands. Come out and watch us take on the No. 8 team in the country on Friday in the Pam!"

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Friday hosting No. 8 Loras at 7 p.m.