The women dropped only one set as they advanced through the competition that was held Friday and Saturday. The Vikings defeated host Wisconsin Lutheran (25-23, 25-18, 25-18), Lake Forest College (19-25, 25-15, 25-8, 25-18), Carroll College (25-17, 25-9, 25-15) and Alverno College (25-8, 25-16, 25-20).
Senior Yaifeh Chafeh finished the two-day tournament with 49 kills for a 4.45 kill/game average and 11 serving aces. Sophomore Caitlin O’Connell added 103 assists for a 7.92 assist/game average and both senior Sarah Foote and junior Vicki Foxall each had 20 kills.
Sophomore Mallory Bieritz and O’Connell added 19 kills apiece as well and freshmen Mia Morales and Amber Walker finished with 15 and 12 kills, respectively.
North Park returns to action Wednesday night when it takes on Concordia University-Chicago at 7 p.m. in an away match.
The season did not start as well for the men’s soccer team, which lost both of its matches at the Elmer Lord Memorial Classic in Salisbury, Maryland.
The Vikings first fell 2-1 to host Salisbury University, ranked No. 22 in the country. North Park rebounded from a 1-0 deficit when Nyenemo Sanguma put in a cross from Kevin Gathje. The Seahawks rallied when Nate Woods put the ball above the head of Viking goalkeeper Joe Cindric at 67:37.
North Park lost 1-0 to St. Mary’s College of Maryland on Sunday in the second-round of the tournament.
The teams had played a tight contest, but the Seahawks (1-0-1) scored with nine minutes left when senior forward Benard Agyingi put the ball past goalkeeper Joe Cindric.
Viking midfielder Isaac Lee had earlier missed an opportunity to put the Vikings up 1-0 when his penalty kick sailed wide. The Vikings (0-2) outshot the Seahawks 13-10. Eleven of the Vikings’ shots came in the second half. Cindric made five saves.
This week won’t get any easier. The Vikings next take on national powerhouse Dominican at 1 p.m. Saturday in an away contest at River Forest, IL. The National Soccer Coaches Association of America ranked Dominican No. 18 in its preseason poll.
The women’s soccer team opened the 2008 season with a close 3-2 loss to visiting Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Friday night.
North Park pulled out to a 1-0 lead in the first half when senior midfielder Christy poked a shot in the top left corner of the goal at the 38:43 mark, but MSOE responded by tying the game at 1-1 on Heidi Brehmer’s shot two minutes in to the second half.
MSOE then took a 2-1 advantage when Jessica Axt scored off the right side with 29:35 left in the second half, but the Vikings responded with the equalizer 21 minutes later when senior defender Laura Alfredson scored off a corner kick from freshman Sarah Hansen.
North Park had a chance to take the lead with 3:28 left when Alfredson headed a shot, but it just went wide right. Raiders’ forward Erin VandenLangenberg then scored the game-winner off a cross from Brehmer with 2:01 left.
The North Park women’s and men’s cross country teams finished seventh and eighth, respectively at the Elmhurst College Earlybird Invite in Elmhurst, Illinois, on Friday afternoon.
North Park returns to action Saturday when it hosts the Ted Hedstrand Invite on Chicago’s lakeshore. The women’s race is set to start at 10 a.m. and the men’s race follows at 11 a.m.
