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

Benedictine Box Score

IIT Box Score

LISLE, Ill. (Oct. 31, 2015) – Capping off a 4-0 weekend at the Benedictine Eagle Classic, the North Central College women's volleyball team took down the host Eagles, 3-1 to start the morning, before downing Illinois Institute of Technology, 3-0 in the final match of the tournament.
 
North Central came out swinging in the first set against Benedictine (12-17), jumping out to a 7-1 lead behind a pair of kills from Anna Billman and another from Cara Howell, while Jill Galovic added back-to-back service aces to force a Benedictine timeout.
 
The Cardinals (22-12) held a steady lead throughout and close out the set on a 6-2 run, highlighted by kills from Amanda Walker and Laura Kluk, while Julie Laugel added a block down the stretch as North Central captured the opening set 25-15.
 
Set number two was back-and-forth early and with the score knotted 6-6, North Central caught fire to score 14 of the next 19 points to take a 20-11 lead.  The Eagles battled back late but the Cardinal lead proved to be insurmountable as kills from Claire Vrabec and Walker closed out the set 25-21.
 
After Benedictine rallied to win the third set 26-24, North Central held just a one-point lead late in set number four.  Holding a 22-21 advantage, a kill and service ace off the hand of Walker gave the Cardinals set point and a Eagle attack error on the final point clinched the set 25-21.
 
Howell paced the Cardinal attack with a match-high 14 kills, while Vrabec also finished in double figures with 11 and Kluk finished with a match-high 38 assists.  Walker and Galovic each finished with three service aces, while defensively Galovic added a match-high 22 digs and Walker added a match-high six total blocks. 
 
North Central followed up with a decisive 3-0 win over Illinois Institute of Technology (13-19), as the Cardinals began the opening set on a 7-0 run, highlighted by a pair of kills from each of Kluk and Bridget White, while Walker added a service ace to cap the rally.
 
The Cardinal lead never fell below six over the course of the first set, finishing with a .300 attack percentage to IIT's .032 attack percentage, eventually capturing the set 25-15.
 
Set two was tight early as the two teams were tied at 5-5, but the Cardinals closed out the set scoring 20 of the final 25 points as the Scarlet Hawk attack committed 13 attack errors, finishing with a percentage of -.243.
 
Trailing 6-5 early in set three, the Cardinals quickly turned the tables by scoring the next four points off a pair of kills from Walker and another from Holly Williams gave North Central a 9-6 lead.
 
North Central held the lead the rest of the way, opening up its largest lead, a 22-14 advantage late after another kill from Williams and a service ace from Howell forced a IIT timeout.  The Cardinals eventually closed out the set 25-20 as Brittany Tickner put home the match-winning kill off an assist from Ashley Powers.
 
White led the Cardinal attack with nine kills, while Howell finished with eight and Williams added seven.  Kluk and Powers each finished with 15 assists, while defensively Galovic finished with 16 digs and McGovern added 10 digs.
 
North Central closes out the season on Tuesday, Nov. 3, traveling to North Park University at 7 p.m.  The link to live in-game statistics is available HERE.