Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324Knox Box Score
Rose-Hulman Box ScoreST. LOUIS, Mo. (Sept. 4, 2015) – Continuing its perfect start to the season, the North Central College women's volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 victory over Knox College in the opening match of the ASICS Invite hosted by Washington University in St. Louis, while hanging on to defeat Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, 3-2 in the second match of the afternoon.
After falling behind 0-2 in the opening set again Knox (0-1), North Central responded with a 9-2 run highlighted by three kills and a service ace from
Cara Howell, as well as two more service aces off the hand of
Julie Laugel.
The Cardinals (4-0) increased the lead over the remainder of the set, as another Laugel ace gave North Central its largest lead, a 18-9 advantage and would go on to take the set 25-18.
Holding a 11-10 lead halfway through set number two, the Cardinal offense responded with a 7-1 run to take a 18-11 lead as service aces from
Laura Kluk and Laugel highlighted the Cardinal run. Howell also added a pair of kills during the rally, while
Anna Billman added another as the Cardinals would go on to win the set 25-16.
Set three was all North Central, scoring five straight points to take a 12-5 lead and force a Prairie Fire timeout. The run was capped off by kills from Kluk and
Amanda Walker, while the two teamed up for a huge block in between kills.
The Cardinals held off the Prairie Fire attack the remainder of the set, cruising to a 25-19 win. North Central tallied 15 service aces in the match, including seven off the hand of Laugel. Howell paced the Cardinal attack with nine kills, while Walker added eight. Kluk finished the opener with a game-high 31 assists and seven digs.
After winning the first three matches of the season by 3-0 scores, the Cardinals ran into its first real test in Rose-Hulman, as the Fightin' Engineers (2-1). Tied 11-11 in the first set, North Central would score five of the next six points to take a 16-12 lead including a pair of kills from each of Howell and Laugel to force a Rose-Hulman timeout.
Back-to-back kills from Laugel and
Claire Vrabec gave the Cardinals its largest lead of the opening set, a 24-16 advantage, while the defense was able to fend off a late charge by the Fightin' Engineers to take set one, 25-20.
The two teams traded leads throughout the second set and with the score tied 16-16, Rose-Hulman rattled off four straight points to take a quick 20-16 lead and went on to take the set 25-20.
With the score knotted at 22 late in set number three, the Cardinals took advantage of a Rose-Hulman attack error to take a one-point lead. Kluk followed with her largest kill of the afternoon, set up on a pass from Vrabec to take a 24-22 lead and finished off the set after Vrabec and Billman combined for the game-ending block to take the all-important third set 25-22.
North Central could not carry the momentum of the third set victory over to set number four, trailing from the opening point the Cardinal attack could not find its rhythm, finishing the set with an attack percentage of -.028. The Cardinals finished the set with just eight kills, to nine errors, as the Fightin' Engineers stayed alive with the 25-21 win.
Holding a 14-13 lead late in the final set, North Central held match point four straight times but was unable to capitalize as Rose-Hulman answered each time. On its fifth match point, leading 19-18, Vrabec put down the largest of her 10 kills in the match, set up from Kluk to seal the match 3-2.
Laugel led the Cardinal attack with 18 kills in the nightcap, while Howell added 14 and a team-high two service aces. Kluk finished with a game-high 43 assists, while defensively
Jill Galovic finished with a team-high 21 digs and
Olivia Hanley added 19 digs off the bench.
North Central continues play in the ASICS Invite tomorrow, squaring off against Webster University at 9:30 am, followed by Hanover College at 1:30 pm. The link to live in-game statistics is available
HERE.
