Women's Volleyball | 10/24/2014 8:52:00 PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Coe Box Score

Olivet Box Score

WHITEWATER, Wis. (Oct. 24, 2014) – The North Central College women's volleyball team opened play at the Dig Panici Classic on Friday, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, splitting a pair of matches as the Cardinals fell to Coe College, 3-0 in the opener before responding with a 3-0 victory over Olivet College in the nightcap.
 
In the opening match against Coe, the Cardinals (18-8) faced set point down 21-24, but rallied as a pair of Claire Vrabec kills and a service ace off the hand of Katie Connolly knotted the score at 24.  The North Central momentum stalled however, as the Kohawks (23-6) tallied the final two point behind a kill from Rachel Schaefer, followed by a Cardinal attack error, giving Coe the first set victory 26-24.
 
Sets two and three were all Kohawks, as the Cardinal offense could not find its stride.  Coe led 24-6 at one point in set number two and would ultimately claim the set 25-9, while jumping out to a 13-3 lead in set three, cruising to the three set victory.
 
North Central finished the first match with 21 kills and 22 attack errors, as Kedryn Orrison finished with a team-high six kills.  Laura Kluk added 17 assists and Jill Galovic finished with 13 digs defensively.
 
In the second match of the evening against Olivet, the Cardinal offense found its stride connecting on 37 kills to 16 attack errors.
 
The turning point in the opening set came as the two teams were tied 22-22.  A kill off the attack from Kluk and a block from Amanda Walker and Cara Howell put the Cardinals up two.  After a Comet (5-20) point, Walker finished off the first set with a kill, giving North Central the 25-23 win.
 
In the second set, the Cardinals opened up a 13-3 lead behind three straight blocks from Orrison, teaming up with Vrabec on a pair and Amy Hermle on the other, while cruising to a 25-13 win.
 
North Central found its groove midway through the third set with the score tied 13-13, scoring 12 of the final 15 points, claiming the set 25-16.
 
Walker paced the Cardinal offense with 10 kills on 17 attack attempts, good for a .529 attack percentage, while Vrabec finished with nine kills and Howell added eight.  Kluk ended with a game-high 30 assists to go along with six digs and five kills.
 
North Central continues play in the Dig Panici Classic tomorrow, squaring off against 11^th-ranked University of Wisconsin Stevens Point at 12 pm, before playing 23^rd-ranked UW-Whitewater at 2 pm.  The link to live statistics is available HERE.