Elgin, IL – Top-seeded Jessup University out of Rocklin, California went a perfect 4-0 on the weekend to win the NCCAA’s first ever Men’s Volleyball National Championship. The Warriors took down the four seed Roberts Wesleyan University, the round robin runner-up, behind a high-powered attack led by Jan Lopuch and Carter Depue. 
 
Jan Lopuch of Jessup University was selected as the Tournament Most Outstanding Player after hitting above .500 in the event. To see the entire Men’s Volleyball All-Tournament Team visit the link here. 

Championship: #1 Jessup University – 3, #4 Roberts Wesleyan University 0 – (25-21, 25-17, 25-19)

• After waiting nearly six hours between matches, a well-rested Jessup roster saw the block serve them well early, recording five blocks in the first 14 points to get out to a 9-5 lead. 
• The duo of Anthony Dobe and Jan Lopuch would combat any Roberts Wesleyan comeback attempt, combining for 10 kills as both men hit over .450 to help the Warriors to a 25-21 set one victory. 
• In the second set, Roberts Wesleyan would rely on the service line to get out to a 13-10 lead. Griffin Monrad recorded four aces to lead the Redhawks early in set two. 
• The serve both helped and haunted Roberts Wesleyan as the team’s 10^th service error of the day led to a 6-0 run for Jessup. Anthony Dobe recorded an ace, and Jan Lopuch added a pair of kills in the run. Roberts Wesleyan would call a timeout trailing 16-13. 
• After the timeout, Jessup would add four more points to cap a 10-0 run and take a 20-13 lead. 
• Jessup would take set two 25-17 on a kill from Jan Lopuch. Lopuch had 12 kills through two sets as the Warriors led two sets to none. 
• Errors would continue to cost Roberts Wesleyan in set three. After tying the set at nine, a service error gave a side out right back to the Warriors. 
• Jan Lopuch and Carter Depue would continue to run the show for the Warriors down the stretch. Depue would record a block that made it 18-13 and forced the RedHawks into their first timeout, then Lopuch added an ace to make it 21-17 and force a second Roberts timeout. 
• Jessup would carry the lead all the way to the end securing a 25-19 set three victory on a Redhawk service error to win the first ever NCCAA Men’s Volleyball National Championship. Jessup lost just one set in the entire tournament and went a perfect 4-0 in the event. 

Round Robin: #1 Jessup University – 3, #3 Oakland City University – 0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-21)

• In the first game of championship Saturday, Oakland City University gave Jessup University all they could handle early, not allowing the Warriors to gain a lead larger than three for the majority of the first set. 
• A kill from Owen Henning would force the Mighty Oaks into their first timeout of set one trailing 22-19. Out of the timeout, Oakland City saw two attack errors to give Jessup set point. The Warriors would capitalize right away with another kill from Henning on a net violation from Oakland City, winning set one 25-19. 
• Set two saw Oakland City get out to a three-point advantage. A personal 3-0 run from Anthony Dobie that saw two kills and a block helped Jessup tie the set at 10. 
• The Taylor Marks serve caused Oakland City to scramble out of system as Jessup went in front 14-10. 
• Jessup would not relinquish the lead the remainder of the set behind more great offense from Jan Lopuch, taking set two 25-20. 
• Anthony Dobie helped Jessup continue with a strong start to set three. He recorded four kills and an ace to put the Warriors on top 6-2. 
• Oakland City would chip away at the early deficit and tie things at 11 on a Danilo Negaro service ace. 
• The Mighty Oaks were unable to every take the lead, as a Taylor Marks block gave Jessup the match sweep on a 25-21 set three victory. Jessup went perfect 3-0 in round robin play to advance to the NCCAA Men’s Volleyball National Championship match as the round robin winner. 

Round Robin: #4 Roberts Wesleyan University – 3, #2 Judson University – 0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-18)

• Roberts Wesleyan got off to a great start looking to force tiebreaker sets, going on a 6-1 run to take a 16-11 advantage. Paul Fillion and Noah Liousfi combined for a big block in the run. 
• The Redhawks would increase their lead as large as nine in the first set. The Judson football team walked in while Roberts led by nine, re-energizing the Judson Eagles, but it was too-little-too-late as the Redhawks took set one 25-19 on a kill from Griffin Monrad. 
• It was much of the same in set two, as Roberts Wesleyan continued to dominate offensively with a .714 hitting percentage while leading 15-10. Judson would use their first timeout trailing by five. 
• Roberts Wesleyan would finish set two with 15 kills and just one attack error for a hitting percentage of .560. They would take a two-set lead on Judson behind a team high 10 kills from Ryan DeJohn. 
• A great dig from the Redhawks helped cap a 3-0 run in set three that gave them a 9-6 advantage. 
• Paul Fillion later recorded back-to-back solo blocks to help increase the Redhawk’s advantage to 15-9 and forced the final Eagles timeout. 
• Roberts Wesleyan would cruise the rest of the way to take set three 25-18 and force a two-tiebreaker set scenario. 

Tiebreaker Set One: #2 Judson University – 25, #3 Oakland City University – 19

• In the first tiebreaker set, Judson University took the 7-3 edge after kills from Jacob Smith and Mason Snodgrass. 
• Jackson Otto added a service ace for the Eagles to force Oakland City into a timeout with the score at 11-6. 
• Oakland City would cut the deficit to as low as one on a huge block from Kevin Pavione, but the Mighty Oaks were unable to take the lead. Judson responded with big blocks of their own and would win the tiebreaker set 25-19 to advance to the second tiebreaker against Roberts Wesleyan University.  

Tiebreaker Set Two: #4 Roberts Wesleyan University – 25, #2 Judson University – 22 

• Judson playing their fifth consecutive set in a row once again was resilient, forcing Roberts Wesleyan University into a timeout with an 11-7 lead. Mason Snodgrass tallied a pair of kills and Elijah Wrobel added a block to spur a 6-1 Eagle run. 
• Roberts Wesleyan would storm back to tie the set at 18 after a block from Patrick Bodecker and Griffin Monrad. 
• An overturned call would give Roberts Wesleyan a huge two-point advantage late, 22-20. Judson would use their final timeout down by two. 
• Paul Fillion would record the set point kill that would put Roberts Wesleyan in the Championship match. The RedHawks responded from an 0-2 day yesterday to win the tiebreaker 25-22 for a rematch with top-seeded Jessup University in the National Championship match. 

About the NCCAA
Established in 1968, the National Christian College Athletic Association uses intercollegiate athletics to further the Great Commission and is committed to equipping student-athletes and coaches to make a positive impact for Christ. The NCCAA currently holds 23 national championship events, along with two national invitationals for 92 member schools across 28 states and two Canadian provinces. For more information on the NCCAA, visit our website, thenccaa.org, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram at @thenccaa.