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

Box Score

KENOSHA, Wis. (Oct. 24, 2017) – The North Central College women's volleyball team struggled early in a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) match at Carthage College on Tuesday and ever regained stride, falling 3-0 inside Tarble Arena.
 
It was the Cardinals who struck first in the opening set as Anna Billman and Julie Laugel recorded kills, while Cara Howell landed a pair of service aces to give North Central an early 5-0 lead, forcing a Carthage timeout.
 
That lead did not last long for North Central however, as Carthage (18-8, 5-2 CIW) battled back to knot the score 9-9 and then proceeded to go on a 12-0 run to take a decisive 21-9 lead in the set.  The Cardinals recorded just two kills after Carthage began its run, hitting just .121 over the set, while the Lady Reds hit .375, recording 14 kills to only two errors en route to the 25-15 win.
 
North Central (12-6, 3-4 CCIW) held tight through the first half of set number two, trailing 11-9 when Carthage went on the set's pivotal run, a 6-0 run to open up a 17-9 lead.  The Cardinals pulled to within three points of the lead late, but the Lady Red advantage proved to be insurmountable as Carthage finished with 14 kills yet again to just four errors, while the Cardinals were plagued by seven attack errors in the set.
 
Set three was close down the stretch until Carthage broke an 18-all tie with a pair of kills from Rachael Kisten and a service ace off the hand of Megan Behrendt to take a 21-18 lead.  North Central did not go down without a fight, as kills from Claire Vrabec and Howell forced a Carthage timeout while drawing the Cardinals to within one, 24-23.
 
The Lady Reds settled down following the timeout and after a short rally Behrendt sent home the match-winning kill off a set from Ellie LeCount to hand North Central the 25-23 loss.
 
Billman was the lone Cardinal to finish in double-figure kills with 12, hitting .455 on the evening, while Alexa Zimbelman recorded a team-high 21 assists and Howell added four service aces.  Defensively, Olivia Hanley finished with 20 digs, while Laugel added 13 and Howell finished with 11.
 
Behrendt paced the Lady Red attack with 14 kills, while Kisten finished with 12 and LeCount dished out a match-high 32 assists.
 
The loss eliminates North Central from postseason play, as the Cardinals wrap up the 2017 season on Tuesday, Oct. 31, playing host to North Park University on Senior Night scheduled for 7 p.m.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.