LISLE, Ill. - St. Norbert College freshman Ryan Da Silva (pictured) set a new program record for kills in a game as the Green Knights battled in a 3-1 loss to Benedictine University in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference game at the Rice Center.  

Da Silva, who finished the game with 27 kills on 49 attacks, broke the previous record of 21 kills set by senior Kaden Kornaus in 2024. It is just the fourth time in program history that a player has recorded 20 or more kills.  

The Green Knights (6-7, 2-3 NACC) fell to the Eagles 25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 25-16.  

St. Norbert battled Benedictine in the first set, trailing 9-8 after having been down by three early in the set. The Eagles went on an 11-6 run to turn the lead to a 20-13 advantage. Three attack errors from the hosts brought the Green Knights back to a 24-20 deficit until Benedictine edged out the set win.  

The Green Knights led early in the second set until another long run from the Eagles gave Benedictine a 19-14 lead. Four kills from Da Silva and several errors from Benedictine made it 22-21, but the Eagles once again edged out a tight set with a service ace to end the set.  

St. Norbert held its biggest lead of the match during set three, with Benedictine trailing for most of the set. A kill from Kade Nelson cut off a 5-2 Benedictine run and led to the Green Knights taking their only set of the afternoon as Da Silva ended the set with four more kills to take a 25-21 set three win.  

Benedictine took the fourth set after holding a 7-2 lead to open final set, with the Green Knights trailing by nearly 10 near the end.  

St. Norbert hit .287 for the match with 53 kills and 18 errors in 122 attempts. Barry Applewhite had seven kills while Nelson had six. Michael Whitney had 42 assists.  

Ryan Conway had 11 digs while Da Silva had eight. Kaden Kornaus had six.  

Benedictine hit .348 with 54 kills and 15 errors in 112 attempts. Tucker Lambert led the Eagles with 18 kills.