Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

Apr. 1, 2017 - In what could be a preview of the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League (MCVL) Tournament semifinals, the North Central College men's volleyball team took fourth-ranked Carthage College's best shots and delivered several of its own in Saturday's match at Gregory Arena. The Cardinals nearly extended the match to a fifth-set before the Red Men closed out a 3-1 win.

Carthage (20-1, 17-0 MCVL) opened with a show of force in the first set, winning by a score of 25-14. The Cardinals regrouped and took the fight to Carthage in the second set, hitting .375 as Jake Braceros, Brendan Crawford and Jacob Zemba took the lead on the attack, but the Red Men never relinquished the lead and prevailed, 25-21.

The Cardinals (16-8, 10-6) took their first lead in the third set at 9-8 following a kill by Justin Curtis, who later served for three straight points which put the hosts in front, 12-9. Carthage strung together four straight points to take a 17-15 lead, but a service error and two attacking errors handed the lead back to North Central. The lead changed hands twice more before the Cardinals scored three points in a four-point span, including two kills from Zemba, then clinched a 25-23 win on a kill by Braceros.

North Central trailed, 7-3, early in the fourth set before scoring five straight as Raymond Kraus delivered a solo block and Braceros and Crawford combined on another. After calling a timeout, the Red Men got back in front, 9-8. Crawford and Braceros each recorded kills to tie the score at 9-9 and 10-10, respectively, but Carthage collected the next two points and wound up leading the rest of the way. The Cardinals wiped out most of a 22-18 deficit with three straight points, including kills by Zemba and Nick Lilley. Facing match point, North Central got another kill from Zemba to close the gap to 24-23, but Carthage's Marc Hansen put down a kill for the match's final point and preserve the Red Men's unblemished record in MCVL play.

Braceros hit .500 with 14 kills and nine digs, including six kills on nine attempts in the fourth set, while Crawford hit .474 with 10 kills and Zema finished with nine kills and a team-high 10 digs on .318 hitting. Kraus finished with 39 assists.

Griffin Shields paced Carthage with 19 kills and three service aces, while Max Bongratz hit .733 with 12 kills and Zach Lillig finished with 10 kills.

The Cardinals travel to face Mount St. Joseph University (18-6, 12-5) on Friday in Cincinnati, Ohio. Action at the Harrington Center is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.