AURORA, Calif. – Cal Lutheran men's volleyball had its nine game win streak snapped on Sunday afternoon, falling to No. 19 Aurora 22-25, 21-25, 25-27.

The Kingsmen came into the match having played 19 sets in a span of three days, and were looking to return home from Illinois with one final win. The Spartans, however, would not let up, sending the Kingsmen back to California with their first loss in 23 days.

Cal Lutheran opened set one with an early 7-1 lead with kills from Jordan Cooper and Parker Brown and five Aurora errors. The Spartans would go on a six-point run to even the score and eventually reach a 10-8 advantage, sending the Kingsmen into timeout. 

Out of the break, back-to-back kills by Borys Horiuk would even the set at 10, and it was an even exchange of points until the final few. With Aurora up 24-20, a kill from Ben Weber and a block by Horiuk and Michael Stahl wouldn't be enough for the Kingsmen to take the set.

Sets two and three consisted of more back-and-forth action, both ending in favor of the Spartans.

Ahead 16-14 in the finale, a big block by Matthew Wilcox and Gavin Galanski forced an Aurora timeout, allowing the Spartans to gain back thier momentum. Back-to-back Aurora services aces tied it back up, in which Wilcox responded with a kill.

The teams were neck and neck until the very end, but the Kingsmen ultimately fell off a Spartan kill and a Cal Lu error.

Stahl led in the loss with 14 kills (.310 pct), followed by Cooper and Weber who added 10 and five respectively. Horiuk had five kills, two blocks and an ace while Weber recorded a season-high 13 digs.

On Thursday, February 6, the Kingsmen will welcome Hope International for a midweek exhibition before getting back on the road. Their next official match will be on Thursday, February 13 at 5 PM PT in Wisconsin.