AURORA, Ill. - The Rockford University men's volleyball team (3-21, 0-10 NACC) lost a hard-fought match in four sets, 25-12, 25-18, 23-25, 25-13, on Wednesday evening to the Aurora University Spartans (12-9, 6-3 NACC). After dropping the first two sets, Rockford staged an incredible comeback to win the third. The Regents were down by as many as nine points late in the set, before using a 12-1 run to stun the Spartans with a 25-23 win. Unfortunately, Aurora rebounded to take the fourth set and the match, for the Spartans' third straight win over the Regents.
- It was a difficult start to the match with Rockford falling behind 10-2 in the first set.
- The Regents were able to run off three straight points, thanks in part to a pair of kills from Nathan Vana, to get back within five at 10-5.
- Aurora's lead hovered around seven for most of the remainder of set, until the Spartans closed on a 7-1 run for the 25-12 win.
- The second set went back and forth in the early moments.
- After the Spartans jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, the Regents scored five of the next eight points to knot the set at 5-5. Isaiah Dixon, Danny Karpenko and Jose Padron all had kills during that stretch.
- With it now tied at 7-7, Aurora used an 8-1 spurt to take a 15-8 lead and seize control.
- Unfortunately, the Regents never got any closer than six the rest of the way and dropped the second set 25-18.
- Rockford got off to another slow start in the third set, as the Regents fell behind 9-3.
- The Regents were able to score the next two points off a Michael Moss kill and a Nathan Vana ace to pull back within four.
- Aurora would steadily push its lead out to as many as nine at 22-13, before the Regents made a ferocious comeback to finish the set.
- Rockford went on a 10-1 run to tie it at 23-23 and force the Spartans to call a timeout. The Regent scoring was led by a kill from Isaiah Dixon, an ace from Josh Albers and blocks from Danny Karpenko and Jose Padron.
- The Regents would then score the final two points, including a Jose Padron kill, to win the third set 25-23.
- Rockford carried its momentum forward into the next set and jumped out to a quick 4-1 advantage.
- However, the Spartans responded with a 7-0 run of their own, to grab an 8-4 lead.
- Aurora would eventually build its lead up to ten points at 19-9 and seize control of the match.
- The Regents were unable to get any closer than nine the rest of the way and dropped the fourth set 25-13 and the match 3-1.
- Danny Karpenko had an impressive showing on Wednesday night. Karpenko finished with 6 kills and 0 attack errors on 15 attempts, for a .400 hitting percentage. He also had 3 blocks and 1 dig.
- Jose Padron had 11 kills, 6 digs, 2 blocks and 1 assist.
- Nathan Vana tallied a season-high 10 kills, 7 digs, 2 blocks and 1 ace.
- Isaiah Dixon had 7 kills and 3 digs.
- Josh Albers finished with 35 assists, 7 digs and 1 ace.
- Tristen Cox recorded 14 digs.
