CHICAGO, Ill. - The Rockford University men's volleyball team (0-1) dropped its first ever match, 3-0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-16), on the road Friday night to the North Park University Vikings (1-0). Even though Rockford fell in straight sets, the Regents played well in spurts and gave North Park a run for its money. After the Regents shook off what appeared to be some early match jitters, Rockford played much better in both the second and third sets. Unfortunately, the Vikings proved to be too much, as they took down the Regents in straight sets. 

• The first set got off to a rocky start, with the Vikings scoring the first five points of the match. 
• Rockford would essentially play even with North Park over the next 13 points, but still trailed the Vikings by a score of 11-7. Randall Simental recorded a pair of kills during that span, including the first ever kill in program history.
• Unfortunately, the Regents were unable to get any closer and dropped the first set 25-15.  
• The second set was the definition of a back and forth affair, as the entire set was played within a five-point span.
• The Vikings again jumped out to an early lead after scoring five of the first seven points.
• However, this time Rockford responded with a 5-3 run of its own and pulled back within a single point. Matthew Seger led the Regent attack with a pair of kills.  
• North Park would eventually extend its lead back to three points, but the Regents answered with three straight points of their own to tie the set at 12-12. It was Marcus Pennington who smashed home a kill to tie the set.
• The Regents and Vikings continued to trade points throughout the middle of the set, as the score remained tied at 19-19.
• Unfortunately, the Vikings closed on a 6-1 run to win the second set 25-20 and grab a commanding 2-0 lead.
• Rockford again got off to a slow start in the third set, falling behind 6-0.
• After the teams traded points, the Regents strung together a 7-2 run of their own, to pull back within a single point at 12-11. Randall Simental tallied the first ace in program history and Jorge Pando recorded his first kill of the season during the spurt. 
• However, that was as close as Rockford would get for the remainder of the set. North Park used an 11-3 run to win the third set 25-16 and the match 3-0.

• Jorge Pando finished with a team-high 16 assists, 6 digs and 1 kill.
• Randall Simental led the team with 7 digs, tied for the team-high with 5 kills, had 1 assist and 1 ace. 
• Matthew Seger also tied for the team-high with 5 kills and added 1 dig and 1 ace. 

The RU men's volleyball team returns to the court on Friday, January 24 at Loras College. The match has a scheduled start time of 7:00 PM.