WATERTOWN, Wis. -- The Sabercats battled for their first win of the season tonight, beating North Park University in four sets on the MBU campus.

Derek Wallis led MBU with a career-high 23 kills, Joel Smith added a career-best 10 kills of his own, and Taylor Dafoe handed out a career-high 42 assists. The trio led the Sabercats to a season-high .389 attack percentage in a convincing team win.

• Result: Maranatha 3-1 North Park (22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 25-17)
• Venue: MBU Gymnasium
• Location: Watertown, Wis.
• Attendance: 84
• Records: Maranatha (1-19), North Park (4-12)

It started off with a 6-0 run for North Park, and right out of the gate, it looked like the men from Chi-town were going to run away with it. North Park put down 16 kills in the first set alone, but a 12-kill, 22-point offering from the Blue and Gold indicated that the Vikings had a fight on their hands. Wallis and Smith put down kills in quick succession to give Maranatha the 22-20 edge, but the Vikings came pillaging back to secure the set with five straight points.

Down 1-0 in the match, the Sabercats proceeded to put together their best display of the season to turn the match on its head.

An attack line of 16-3-28 lifted Maranatha to a turnaround 25-22 win in the second frame, and despite pressure from NPU, the Sabercats were clicking in every facet of the game. The passing was pinpoint, the defense was scrappy, and everybody was notching kills for the Blue and Gold. When Wallis racked up five kills in the middle of the set, the Sabercats were just reaping the fruit of their crisp play. Three late miscues from the visitors helped the Sabercats to a hard-earned, match-tying win, and things were looking up.

In the third set, the Sabercats pulled farther and farther ahead as the set went on. Wallis was at it again in the middle of the set, and a set-ending kill from Smith put the Sabercats within striking distance of their first win of the season.

That win came soon enough, as the Sabercats put the Vikings to the sword by the same scoreline as the third set. Wallis added six more to the kills column and Rory Massey ended a celebratory night for MBU with a match-sealing kill.

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MBU Starters: 3-Massey, 4-McKee, 5-Dafoe, 6-Rossiter, 12-Wallis, 13-Wagner (L), 15-Smith // NPU Starters: 1-Wong (L), 8-Eballar, 9-Mauigoa, 13-Zavala, 15-Barczak, 21-Goo, 22-Nguyen

• Wallis: career-high 23 kills
• Smith: career-high 10 kills
• Dafoe: career-high 42 assists
• MBU: season-high 51 kills and .349 attack percentage
• Series: this was the first match in the series

The Sabercats will stay home tomorrow for a tri-match on Parents' Day. MBU will face Viterbo at 11:00 a.m. and Loras at 3:00 p.m. Follow at mbusabercats.com/composite.