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

Box Score

Oct. 28, 2016 – In a fairly evenly faced match, the North Central College women's volleyball team hung tight with Wheaton College on Friday evening but were ultimately haunted by 13 service errors in the 3-1 loss, closing out the home portion of the schedule inside Gregory Arena.

The two team were evenly matched statistically, as North Central finished with 46 kills to Wheaton's 48, while both teams finished with 46 assists, but the Thunder held a 13-1 margin in service errors which proved to be the deciding factor.

North Central (13-14, 0-7 CCIW) came out slow in the opening set and never recovered, as Wheaton (12-15, 5-2 CCIW) ran away with a 25-16 win in the opener.  Four Cardinal service errors and three service aces from the Thunder proved to be the difference.

The Cardinals found their stride in the second set, as a 6-1 rally broke a 13-13 tie to give North Central a commanding 19-14 lead while forcing a Wheaton timeout.  Anna Billman recorded a pair of kills during the Cardinal rally, while Cara Howell and Julie Laugel also recorded a kill, while North Central held on to win the set 25-21 and draw the match even at one set apiece.

Set number three was back-and-forth until the final point, as a Sarah Geosling kill put North Central ahead 24-23, but a kill from Wheaton's Shelby Knowles once again knotted the score.  After a North Central attack error and a kill from Megan Bielawski evened the score yet again, another kill from Knowles gave Wheaton set point and the Thunder would capitalize the following point as Emily Potts and Madeline Moore teamed up for the block, sealing the third set win for the Thunder, 27-25.

The Thunder carried that momentum into the final set, while the North Central offense struggled to the tune of eight kills to nine errors, finishing with a -.028 attack percentage.  Wheaton closed out the match scoring the final seven points, en route to a 25-17 win.

Billman paced the Cardinal offense with 11 kills on the evening, while Howell and Geosling also finished in double figures with 10 kills each.  Val Hunt dished out a team-high 20 assists, while Ashley Powers was right behind with 19.  Defensively, Hunt led the team with 14 digs, while Laugel and Olivia Hanley finished with 13 and 11, respectively.

The Wheaton attack was led by Knowles 19 kills, while Meghan Lacey added 12.  Ashley Torok led all players with 31 assists, while Jessica Bosse led the team with 18 digs and three service aces.

North Central continues play tomorrow with a pair of matches at Benedictine University, taking on the host Eagles at 10 a.m., followed by Wisconsin Lutheran College at 12 p.m. at the Rice Center in Lisle, Ill.