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Coe Box Score
Judson Box Score

Oct. 14, 2011 - The North Central College volleyball team shook off a loss in the opening round of the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament at Gregory Arena on Friday, bouncing back from a 3-0 setback against Coe College by defeating Judson University, 3-1, to salvage a split in the first day of the two-day event.

The Cardinals (12-11) played three extremely close sets against a Coe team which had lost just twice all season heading into the weekend, then responded to a first-set loss against Judson by dominating the rest of the way behind the prolific attacking efforts of outside hitters Jenae Harner and Crystal Wright.

North Central was in position to take the first set against Coe, owning a 24-22 advantage, before the Kohawks' Kaitlin McKimmon recorded kills on back-to-back plays to even the score and the visitors went on to win, 26-24. After trailing by as many as six points in the second set, the Cardinals rallied and narrowed the gap to 19-17 before Coe picked up the next two points and maintained their advantage to the end of a 25-21 victory.

The Cardinals threatened to swipe the third set as well, facing just a 20-19 deficit before two straight attacking errors derailed North Central's efforts. Coe (24-2) closed out its second win of the day with a 25-21 third-set win.

Harner and Kedryn Orrison each recorded eight kills to lead the Cardinals, who also got seven kills from Wright. Harner also led the team in digs (11), while Alli Briner and Kayla Murphy each contributed two solo blocks and Ryan Lally finished with 34 assists.

Judson (9-17), which lost a 3-2 decision to North Park University, played with precision in its first set against North Central, as the Eagles hit .351 and registered four blocks en route to a 25-23 win. After watching a four-point lead dissipate during a Cardinal scoring run, Judson called a timeout and regrouped to secure the final two points.

North Central turned the tables in the second set, pulling ahead early and steadily stretching its lead until ultimately prevailing, 25-15. Harner posted five kills and Wright turned in four in the win as the Cardinals hit .316 for the set. The hosts pulled away midway through the third set, scoring six straight points on the serve of Joelle Lusson, and leading by as many as eight points before winning, 25-20. 

A 7-2 surge early in the fourth set helped move the Cardinals closer to victory. North Central held a 19-13 lead before a 4-0 Judson surge, but two straight Harner kills kept the home team in control and the 25-19 victory was clinched by back-to-back kills by Lally and Wright.

Harner hit .513 and finished with a career-best 22 kills, while Wright hit .432 with 18 kills. Lally put up 53 assists, moving into third place all-time at North Central, while Sarah Eggert led the way with 21 digs and Briner posted four total blocks. Harner also had 16 digs and a pair of service aces.

The Cardinals continue play in the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament on Saturday, taking on St. Mary's University (Minn.) at noon and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at 4 p.m.