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

Box Score

Oct. 4, 2011 - A two-set deficit proved to be too steep a hill to climb for the North Central College volleyball team on Tuesday, as the Cardinals staged a brief rally before losing, 3-1, to Wheaton College in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin play at Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals (10-10, 2-2 CCIW) dropped into a third-place tie with Wheaton in the CCIW standings with three conference contests to play.

North Central owned a 16-12 advantage in the first set before the Thunder (12-7, 2-2) bounced back to score eight of the next nine points and secure a 20-17 lead. After a timeout, the Cardinals narrowed the gap to a single point before Wheaton scored the next three and pulled away for a 25-21 win.

The hosts trailed by as many as five points early in the second set before closing the deficit to 14-13. Wheaton responded with a 6-1 run and maintained control the rest of the way, winning, 25-18.

Wheaton appeared to be headed toward a straight-sets win in the third set, owning a 18-15 edge. The Cardinals, however, scored seven straight points on the serve of Kedryn Orrison, including three kills by Jenae Harner, to take a 22-19 advantage. North Central eventually closed out the third-set win by a score of 25-21.

The Thunder broke open the fourth set early, as a 10-2 run yielded a 13-5 lead. Wheaton was never threatened from then on, winning, 25-13, to close out the match.

Harner finished with a season-high 17 kills for North Central, while Ryan Lally totaled 40 assists. Orrison turned in three service aces and shared the team lead in blocks (3) with Alli Briner, and Sarah Eggert contributed a season-best 22 digs.

The Cardinals are idle until Tuesday, Oct. 11, hosting CCIW rival Augustana College at 7 p.m.