FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Box Score

Oct. 16, 2012 - A strong start and a furious finish helped keep the North Central College volleyball team in the hunt for a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Championship on Tuesday, as the Cardinals took down Millikin University, 3-1, at Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals (22-6, 5-1 CCIW) remain within a game of conference leader Elmhurst College and can play for at least a share of the CCIW title next Tuesday when they travel to R.A. Faganel Hall to take on the Bluejays.

North Central sprinted out of the gate and scored 11 of the match's first 13 points, prompting the Big Blue (19-7, 3-3) to call a pair of timeouts. Millikin regrouped and drew within as few as four points before the Cardinals scored the final five points of the opening set to win, 25-16.

The hosts got started quickly in the second set as well, opening with a 6-2 surge and extending their advantage to 13-5 before Millikin bounced back and narrowed the gap to 15-13. The Big Blue never drew closer than two points and North Central was able to prevail, 25-21, to take a commanding two sets-to-none lead.

Millikin denied the Cardinals a sweep by taking the third set, 25-17, and kept pace with the home team early in the fourth set as well. North Central held a narrow 15-14 lead when a kill by Amanda Walker ignited a 8-0 rally on the serve of Jenae Harner. Amanda Hilmer, who had three kills in the match-clinching rally, scored the final point to leave the score at 23-14, and Millikin gained three points back before the Cardinals closed out the set, 25-17, to secure their first victory over the Big Blue since 2009.

Harner totaled 13 kills for the Cardinals, while Kayla Murphy added 11. Jessie Fiala recorded three service aces and Sarah Eggert led the way with 17 digs, while Walker and Kedryn Orrison each registered five total blocks. Laura Kluk put up 29 assists, putting her over 1,000 for the season (1,021).

Millikin middle hitter Audrey Krajec, the CCIW's leader in kills heading into the match, posted a match-high 20 kills for the Big Blue. Setter Brittany Cardott provided 40 assists, two service aces and 15 digs.d

The Cardinals are idle until Tuesday's match at Elmhurst, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.