NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Duhawks.com) - Not only did the Loras men's volleyball team make history on Friday night by playing in the first five-set tournament match in league history, but with a 3-2 win over top-seeded North Central, the Duhawks advanced to the tournament final for the first time in school history. Dylan Ross guided Loras with 20 kills while hitting .459 and added seven digs and one block.

Loras won the first set, 25-22, but the Cardinals dominated the second, 25-14. The Duhawks came right back with a 25-21 win in set three, but set four went much like set two as North Central triumphed, 25-18. The opening stretch of set five went back-and-forth, but a service error by Loras and a kill by Brendan Crawford provided the first moment of breathing room for North Central at 5-3. The lead went to 7-4 on back-to-back kills from Crawford and Nick Lilley. The teams traded points for an 8-5 Cardinals' lead at the crossover.

North Central kept its three-point as Jake Braceros made it 10-7. Loras got the next two, however, on Dylan Ross' kill and a block by Alfredo Lopez. Jacob Zemba's kill made it 11-9 in favor of the Cardinals but a two-point answer came from Mihajlo Gomez' kill and another by Ross. North Central then scored what seemed like a pivotal two points on Zemba's kill and an attack error, forcing a timeout from Loras Head Coach Jeremy Thornburg.

Out of the timeout, the Duhawks rallied to score the final four points of the match. Ross notched a kill out of the timeout followed by an attack error from North Central. Ross recorded his match-high 20th kill to get his team to match point before Leo Peters followed with a block that sent the Loras players and fans into a frenzy.

Ross hit .459 with those 20 kills while adding seven digs. Lopez ran the Duhawk offense to near-perfection, finishing with 49 assists, six digs and three kills. Loras hit .237 for the match and had 11 total blocks as compared to North Central's five total blocks.

Lilley had a team-high 12 kills with a .219 hitting percentage while Braceros and Crawford both added 10 kills. Braceros and Samuel Kharasch tied for the team-lead with 11 digs. The Cardinals hit at a .264 clip and out-dug the Duhawks, 44-38.