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Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Box Score

Nov. 3, 2009 - The North Central College volleyball team completed a clean sweep of its home matches this season on Tuesday, qualifying for the semifinal round of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Tournament with a 3-1 victory over Augustana College in a CCIW play-in match at Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals (33-3) posted their second win over the Vikings in as many weeks, finishing the 2009 campaign with a perfect 12-0 record on their home floor.

Three straight service aces by Augustana's Bridget Reich helped give the visitors an 11-9 lead midway through Tuesday's first set, and the Vikings led until North Central put together a 9-0 surge on the serve of Jamie Drozd and held on for a 25-20 victory. Jenae Harner and Crystal Wright each had four kills in the opening set.

Wright contributed four kills to a 7-1 run during the second set to help the Cardinals gain a 15-8 advantage, and the hosts' lead never dipped below five points the rest of the way to a 25-16 victory. North Central led, 9-7, but the Vikings scored six of the next seven points to pull in front, 13-10. Augustana (11-21) extended its lead to as many as six points before extending the match to a fourth set with a 25-21 win.

The Cardinals took the lead early in the fourth set and stayed a step ahead of their counterparts throughout, prevailing, 25-20, and ending the Vikings' season.

Wright led North Central with 15 kills while Harner finished with 11 and Ryan Lally ended the night with 38 assists. Stephanie Ryding totaled 30 digs, Harner added 17, and Anna Wirtz put up 12.

The second-seeded Cardinals advance to Friday's semifinal round against sixth-seeded Millikin University (19-19), which upset third-seeded Illinois Wesleyan University, 3-1, on Tuesday. The match will be played at 4:30 p.m. at Carthage College. Carthage (29-5), the No. 1 seed in the tournament, will play fourth-seeded Elmhurst (17-16) at 7 p.m. Saturday's championship match, also at Carthage, will begin at 2 p.m.