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Concordia Chicago Box Score

Calumet St. Joseph Box Score

Sept. 1, 2015 – Opening the 2015 season in front of its home crowd, the North Central College women's volleyball team swept a pair of non-conference matches playing host to the North Central Quad, downing Concordia University Chicago, 3-0 in the opener before cruising to another 3-0 win over Calumet College of St. Joseph in the nightcap.
 
The North Central attack began from the opening point against Concordia Chicago (1-1), quickly taking a 3-0 lead after a pair of kills from Anna Billman and another from Cara Howell.  The Cardinals held a steady lead throughout the first set, eventually opening up a double-digit lead down the stretch to claim the set 25-14, finishing with 18 kills to the Cougars four.
 
The turning point in set number two came with score knotted 6-6, as Amanda Walker delivered back-to-back blocks to give the Cardinals a two-point advantage.  North Central never surrendered the lead from that point on, opening up its largest lead on match point to take the set 25-15.
 
Set number three was much of the same domination from the Cardinal attack, jumping out to a 10-4 lead thanks in part to a pair of kills from Laura Kluk and a service ace from Howell.  North Central pushed its lead to 21-9 down the stretch, as the Cougar defense had no answers for the Cardinal attack.
 
North Central finished the match with 42 kills while holding the Cougars to just 14.  Howell paced the Cardinal attack with 12 kills, while Julie Laugel finished with seven and Bridget White added six kills off the bench.  Kluk ended with a match-high 26 assists, while Jill Galovic added a team-high eight digs and two service aces.
 
Coming off the first match victory, the Cardinals struggled to get going against Calumet St. Joseph.  Trailing 9-10 halfway through the set, North Central turned the momentum around thanks to a pair of kills from Kluk, while Galovic capped off the 6-1 run with a service ace to give the hosts a 15-10 lead.  North Central increased its lead late, as Claire Vrabec sealed the deal with a pair of service aces late in the set to give the Cardinals a 25-17 opening set win.
 
North Central took an early lead in set number two and never looked back, as Vrabec continued the hot serving with back-to-back service aces early in the set to give the Cardinals a quick 8-3 advantage.  The Crimson Wave (0-2) kept things close down the stretch, trailing by just one point late, 21-20, but the Cardinals were not to be denied, scoring four of the last five points to win the set 25-21.
 
Set three was all North Central as the Cardinals jumped out to a 9-2 lead early, thanks to six straight kills, four coming off the hand of Howell.  A 5-0 North Central run late in the set sealed the match for the Cardinals, cruising to a 25-15 victory.
 
Howell once again led the Cardinal attack, tallying a game-high 14 kills in the nightcap.  Billman and Vrabec each finished with six and five kills, respectively, while Kluk totaled 18 assists and Ashley Powers added nine assists off the bench.  Vrabec also added a game-high five service aces, while Olivia Hanley and Galovic added three apiece.
 
North Central travels to the University of Washington at St. Louis for the ASICS Invite on Sept. 4, taking on Knox College in the opening match at 2 pm, followed by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology at 6 pm.  The link to live in-game statistics is available HERE.