Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324Purdue North Central Box ScoreLoras Box ScoreOct. 10, 2015 – Splitting its final two matches at the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament, the North Central College women's volleyball team cruised past Purdue University North Central, 3-0 to open the day before falling to Loras College, 3-1 in the nightcap.
In an early start time Saturday morning against Purdue North Central (5-17), the Cardinals held a 9-9 tie halfway through the opening set, before rattling off 13 of the next 14 points to take a commanding 22-10 lead and went on to win the set 25-17. The Cardinal run was highlighted by a pair of kills from
Julie Laugel as well as two service aces from the sophomore, while
Claire Vrabec also added two kills during the rally.
Set two was all North Central, as the Cardinals jumped out to an early 10-3 lead and gradually increased its lead down the stretch, cruising to a 25-11 win behind a .579 attack percentage, finishing with 12 kills and just one attack error.
North Central held a steady lead throughout a majority of the third set, but the Panthers clawed back to within two late in the set 21-19. The Cardinal lead was too much to overcome for the Panther attack in the end, as a kill from
Brittany Tickner and back-to-back kills from Vrabec ended the set 25-19.
Cara Howell paced the Cardinal attack with nine kills, while Vrabec finished with eight.
Ashley Powers led all players with 32 assists, while Laugel added a match-high four service aces. Defensively,
Kelly McGovern and
Olivia Hanley each turned in 12 digs.
In the nightcap against Loras (13-10), the Cardinals battled back from a 17-10 deficit in the opening set to knot the score 22-22. Two straight Duhawk points turned set point on North Central, but an
Anna Billman kill and a Loras attack error tied the set back at 24.
On the following point, Laugel turned set point in the Cardinals favor on a kill set up on a pass from
Laura Kluk, while Billman ended the set on a kill of her own to win the opener 26-24.
Winning the first set with a .343 attack percentage, the Cardinal attack went cold over in the second set, finishing with just a .100 attack percentage. Despite leading 17-12 midway through the set, the Cardinals could not close it out as the Duhawks battled back to knot the score 20-20.
North Central regained its composure momentarily, claiming the next four points to take a 24-20 lead, but Loras responded by holding off four-straight set points, while back-to-back Cardinal attack errors on the final two points gave the Duhawks a 26-24 win.
The Cardinals struggles carried over to the third set and despite holding a 23-21 lead late, the Duhawks once again battled back to score the final four points of the set and quickly capture the set 25-23.
Set four was all Loras, as the Cardinal attack struggled to the tune of a -.021 attack percentage, finishing with 10 kills to 11 attack errors, dropping the final set 25-16.
Howell once again led the Cardinal attack in match two, finishing with 13 kills, while Laugel added 10 kills and 13 digs defensively. Kluk turned in a match-high 43 assists, moving into second-place on the program's career assists list (3,526), just 33 away from tying Ryan Lally's '11 all-time record of 3,559. Kluk's five service aces also moved her into fifth on the program's all-time list (138), while
Amanda Walker moved into fourth on the career blocks list (286) with her three blocks in the nightcap.
North Central continues College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play on Tuesday, Oct. 13, traveling to Millikin University at 7 p.m. Links to live in-game statistics and video are available
HERE.
