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

UW-River Falls Box Score
Ripon Box Score

RIPON, Wis. (Sept. 3, 2016) – The North Central College women's volleyball team dropped the final two matches at the Ripon College Red Hawk Invitational, falling 3-0 to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in the opener, before suffering a 3-0 defeat at the hands of host Ripon in the nightcap.

North Central (3-2) struggled out of the gate offensively in the opening set against UW-River Falls, hitting at just a .118 percentage, falling 25-18. 

The UW-River Falls offensive could not be contained in the second set, as the Cardinal dropped the set 25-16, before taking the third set to extras but were eventually knocked off 28-26.  The Cardinals were plagued by 11 service errors over the course of the match, while the Falcons (1-1) committed just two.

Cara Howell led the Cardinal offense with eight kills, while Julie Laugel logged seven.  The pair also led the team with three service aces apiece.  Ashley Powers dished out a team-high 12 assists, while Olivia Hanley recorded a match-high 14 digs on defense.

In the second match against Ripon, the Cardinals held a 22-20 lead late, but five straight Ripon points quickly turned the tables and ended the opening set 25-22 in favor of the host Red Hawks (3-0).

The North Central offense went cold from that point on, dropping the final two sets each by identical 25-13 scores, finishing both sets with a negative hitting percentage.

Howell and Laugel once again led the Cardinal attack with seven and six kills, respectively, while Powers finished with 21 assists.  Defensively, Laugel and Hanley each led the team with 13 digs each.

North Central travels to the North Park University Quad on Tuesday, Sept. 6, taking on Maranatha Baptist University at 5 p.m., followed by Concordia University Chicago at 7 p.m.