Contact: Ava Yurchison, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

Adrian Box Score
Mount Mercy Box Score

Mar. 18, 2017-The North Central College Cardinals were the dominant team from the first set of the day winning all six sets against the Adrian College Bulldogs and the Mount Mercy University Mustangs Saturday, inside Gregory Arena.
 
Opening play against the Bulldogs the Cardinals were swift with a 13-6 run forcing an Adrian timeout. Coming out of the timeout, sophomores Raymond Kraus, Anthony Kluzak and Jake Braceros each tallied a kill to extend North Central's lead 20-10. Another Braceros kill, and a kill from sophomore Bozhidar Kolev and freshman Brendan Crawford, paired with an Adrian service ace closed out the set in favor of North Central 25-12.
 
North Central found itself on the offensive upper hand in the second set as well leading 13-7. A kill from Kolev and a kill from freshman Jason Eslinger triggered an Adrian timeout to which they went on a five-point run and sparked a North Central timeout. With North Central leading 22-20, an attacking error for the Bulldogs, coupled with a kill from freshman Michael Trunzo and freshman Max Lawrence allowed the Cardinals to claim their second set of the match 25-21.
 
In the third and final set, North Central hit it's highest average of the match at .348 and persisted as the dominate team. The Cardinals launched to an eager 16-9 lead in the middle of the match and maintained control sailing to a 25-13 victory.
 
Crawford led the Cardinals offensively with ten kills meanwhile sophomore Jacob Zemba, Kolev and Kraus all earned one service ace. Kolev also picked up 10 digs with sophomore Kevin Messer keeping up six and Braceros with four.
 
Freshman Justin Curtis commanded at the net with four total blocks.
 
The offensive movement created within the first match carried over into the second match of the day as North Central defeated Mount Mercy in three.
 
Three consecutive kills from sophomore Max Lawrence, freshman Casey Hiller and Eslinger followed by four attacking errors for the Mustangs solidified the gap between the teams bringing the score to 17-13 in favor of North Central. From there, another kill from Eslinger and Lawrence, with a kill from Curtis sealed the fate of the set. The Cardinals won the first set 25-20.
 
Set two started off rocky for North Central as Mount Mercy scored the first four points. After a Cardinals timeout, though, North Central found a rhythm within sophomore Sean Brzoska who served for four straight points. With the match tied at 8, Lawrence stepped to the serving line and served for another three straight points. North Central maintained their lead the rest of the set closing it out 25-21. The Cardinals had a game high of five services aces in this set.
 
In the final set of the match, North Central never trailed. They opened with an 8-5 lead and never let the Mustangs come within more than two points. The Cardinals ended the day winning the final set 25-17.
 
Curtis commanded the team again; this time with the highest hitting percentage (.625) while Eslinger recorded a match-day high of 11 kills.
 
Trunzo dished out 29 assists and accumulated six digs in the win.
 
North Central returns to the court on Tuesday, Mar. 21, against host Olivet College inside the Cutler Event Center in Olivet, Mich. The link to live in-game statistics is available HERE.