ROCKFORD, Ill. - The Rockford University men's volleyball team (0-11, 0-0 NACC) fell 3-1 in its inaugural season home opener to Concordia University Chicago (8-3, 0-0 NACC). The Regents made history tonight, winning the third set of the match for the first set win in Rockford University history in men's volleyball. Rockford came out looking poised to do great things. They showed signs of improvement and the determination to be a contender in the NACC for years to come. Jose Padron Garcia and Randall Simental led the offense for the Regents with 11 kills each.
- Rockford started strong, scoring the first four points of the first set accompanied by two service aces from Jose Padron Garcia and a kill from Maurice Hogan.
- The Cougars tied it with a 4-point scoring run.
- Concordia took the lead by going on a 5-2 scoring run to lead 9-7.
- Marcus Pennington crushed a kill for the Regents to be down by a point, 9-8.
- The Cougars increased the lead from a 7-2 scoring run to make it 17-11.
- Rockford made a come back with a 3-0 scoring run with Randall Simental earning a kill for the Regents to be down 17-14.
- Jose Padron Garcia had two kills to finish off the first set, but the Cougars ended up taking the first set 25-17.
- The second set started off tied at 2-2.
- The Regents took the lead 4-2 from a service ace by Ryan Gillfillan and a kill by Jose Padron Garcia.
- The Cougars took over the lead with a 9-1 scoring run to lead 11-5.
- Rockford came back and was down 13-12 by going on a 7-2 scoring run with kills coming from Randall Simental and Jose Padron Garcia. Marcus Pennington also had a service ace during the run.
- Concordia sustained the lead and won the second set 25-17.
- Jeremy Weaver started off the third set with a big kill making it 1-0.
- The Regents led 5-4 with kills coming from Randall Simental and Marcus Pennington.
- Rockford went on a 4-0 scoring run led by two kills from Jose Padron Garcia and a service ace from Jorge Pando.
- The Cougars took the lead 12-11, but the Regents rallied back with a 3-0 scoring run to lead 14-12. Randall Simental and Jorge Pando had huge kills for the Regents.
- Concordia went on a 9-4 scoring run to lead 21-18.
- The Regents dug deep and went on 7-2 scoring run to win its first set in school history, 25-23. Randall Simental dropped the hammer for the Regents to take the third set.
- The fourth set started with the Cougars going up 4-0.
- Rockford got off to a slow start after Ryan Gillfillan had a service ace for the Regents to trail 7-3.
- The Regents went on a 4-1 scoring run with a kill coming from Randall Simental and a service ace coming from Matthew Seger to trail 10-7.
- Concordia increased its lead to 15-7 with a 5-0 scoring run.
- Rockford tried to catch the Cougars with 4-1 scoring run but was still down 16-11. Kills from Jeremy Weaver and Jorge Pando helped propel the Regents.
- Maurice Hogan, Marcus Pennington and Randall Simental all had monstrous kills, but it was not enough as the Cougars went on to win 25-15 and winning the match 3-1.
The Rockford University men's volleyball team returns to action on Friday, February 28 against Millikin University. The match is set for 7 PM in the Seaver Center.
