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

Box Score

Oct. 16, 2015 – The North Central College women's volleyball team came out flat early on and never quite recovered, dropping a 3-1 decision at the hands of Wheaton College on Friday night inside Gregory Arena.
 
With the score knotted 9-9 early in the opening set, the Thunder would claim 12 of the next 15 points to quickly take a 21-12 advantage.  Wheaton (10-13, 2-2 CCIW) eventually closed out the set 25-14 behind a .417 attack percentage, finishing with 16 kills to just one attack error, while the Cardinals finished the first set with an attack percentage of just .122.
 
Set number two was back-and-forth throughout and with the score tied 23-23, the Thunder took advantage of a Cardinal service error to set up set point.  On the following point, a North Central ball handling error gave the Thunder a 25-23 win to go ahead 2-0.
 
The Wheaton attack struggled in the third set, finishing with just six kills while committing eight attack errors.  The Cardinals (18-10, 2-2 CCIW) advantage of those attack errors while back-to-back kills from Amanda Walker and Cara Howell gave North Central a 17-12 lead.  North Central would go on to win the fourth set 25-17, as Anna Billman put home the set-winning kill, set up from Laura Kluk.
 
Set four was nail biter late, as both team traded leads down the stretch until the Thunder took a 24-23 lead on a Shelby Knowles kill.  A kill from Walker staved off set point for the Cardinals, but another kill from Knowles on the following point set up set point yet again for the Thunder.  Wheaton's Sara Reiskytl came through with the matches' largest block on the following point to clinch the match for the Thunder and the final set 26-24.
 
Howell led the Cardinal attack with 17 kills on the evening, while Walker added 15.  Kluk finished with a match-high 43 assists, while Jill Galovic finished with a team-high 19 digs and three service aces.
 
Knowles led all players with 27 kills on the night, while Hannah Japp added seven blocks and Kelli Manning finished with a match-high 20 digs.
 
North Central plays host to 16^th-ranked Elmhurst College on Tuesday, Oct. 20 as the Cardinals celebrate Senior Night prior to the 7 p.m. scheduled start.  Links to live in-game statistics and video are available HERE.