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

Box Score

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Sept. 20 2017) – Opening College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) play at nationally ranked Illinois Wesleyan University on Wednesday, the North Central College women's volleyball team fell behind early and never recovered, falling 3-0 to the 19^th-ranked Titans inside the Shirk Center.
 
With the opening set tied 8-8 early, the Titans (7-4, 1-0 CCIW) caught fire to the tune of a 12-0 run to take a commanding 20-8 lead and would go on to take the set 25-12.
 
In a second set in which the Cardinals never led, they did not go down without a fight, clawing back from a 21-15 deficit late as a pair of Titan attack errors followed by a kill from Cara Howell drew North Central to within three, 21-18.
 
That was as close as North Central would come to the lead however, as the Titans closed out the second set 25-21.  Illinois Wesleyan carried that momentum into the final set, hitting at a .565 rate, racking up 14 kills to just one attack error, closing out the match with a 25-15 third set decision.
 
Julie Laugel was the lone Cardinal to finish in double figure kills, tallying 11, while Howell added nine.  Alexa Zimbelman led the team with 18 assists, while Olivia Hanley finished with a team-leading 14 digs on defense.
 
Reigning NCAA Division III Player of the Week Tyler Brown paced the Titan attack with nine kills, while also leading the way defensively with 18 digs.  Rachel Burkman tied Brown for the team lead with nine kills, hitting a team-high .471 on the evening.
 
North Central (6-2, 0-1 CCIW) plays host to another nationally ranked opponent on Friday, Sept. 22, hosting 17^th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at 5 p.m. on the opening day of the CCIW/WIAC Crossover.  The link to the tournament webpage is available HERE.