College of DuPage closed the book Sunday on the 2024 men's volleyball season and head coach Tolis Koskinaris paid tribute to his team by saying  they played "the 10 sets in our program's history'' as play drew to a close in the NJCAA Invitational, hosted by COD.
 
The Chaparrals took defending champion Finger Lakes (N.Y.) to five sets before taking a loss and then defeated Region 4 rival Bryant & Stratton in the third-place game.
 
COD closed the weekend going 3-3 and gained momentum entering the offseason.
 
"Our guys really laid it on the line today,'' Koskinaris said. "Everyone played a role and chipped in. There wasn't one guy who stood head-and-shoulders above anyone else. I'm very proud of how we played.''
 
The five-set loss to Finger Lakes (22-25, 26-24, 27-25, 16-25, 10-15) saw COD total 58 kills on 25 errors and 150 attacks (.220). Sam Molitor led the way with 18 kills, and Erik Perez had 10 in the loss. Vincent Arias was next with nine and Justus Barbel eight.
 
Setter Nathan Perez compiled 47 of the team's 55 assists and Stanley Guziec and Justus Barbel each had two service aces.
 
Defensively, Guziec had 11 digs and Nathan Perez 10. Arias has three block assists and Barbel and Nathan Kamaris each had two.
 
COD and Bryant & Stratton played a back-and-forth match before the Chaparrals found their best momentum late. Down 12-8 in the fifth, they scored the match's final seven points for the 29-31, 25-23, 16-25, 25-23, 15-12 victory.
 
Molitor again led the way on the attack with 17 kills and Barbel fell in line with 14. Kamaris was the only other Chap in double figures with 10.
 
Setter Nathan Perez had 45 of the Chaps' 49 assists and Ben Hoover led in service aces with two.
 
Stanley Guziec and John Valencia had 13 and 12 digs, respectively, and Barbel had one solo and six block assists. Arias had one solo and four assists and Kamaris had four block assists.
 
Koskinaris paid tribute to his seven sophomores, who laid the foundation for the program in its second year of play.
 
Those sophomores are: Erik Perez, Stanley Guziec, Sam Akouri, Mike Fenley, Bo Parker, John Valencia, and Kai Shores-Navata.
 
"A good group of guys who performed,'' Koskinaris said. "I'm very proud of what they did and helped us build what truly is a great sport at COD.''