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

Central Box Score
Bethel Box Score

Oct. 12, 2018 – In the final non-conference triangular of the season, the North Central College women's volleyball team scored a 3-1 win over Central College to open the day, before suffering an identical 3-1 loss at the hands of Bethel University in the finale inside Gregory Arena.
 
North Central (3-16) came out to a roaring start in the opener, as the turning point of the first set came with the score knotted 13-13.  Following a Central service error, Kaitlyn Boelter-Eberhardt scored a pair of service aces to give North Central a 16-13 advantage.
 
The Cardinals held the lead the remainder of the set, but the Dutch made a late run, pulling to within one, 24-23, however Boelter-Eberhardt put the set away with a kill off an assist from Maya Bryant to give North Central the 25-23 first set win.
 
Carrying that momentum into the second set, North Central opened up an early 11-3 lead highlighted by service aces from each of Emmie Naal, Reagan Raymer and Katelynn Kuehl, while the Dutch committed seven errors over the first 14 points.
 
The closest the Dutch would come to the lead was five points midway through the set, but the Cardinal offense led by three kills from Boelter-Eberhardt and another from Kimberly Epker propelled the Cardinals to a 25-15 win.
 
The third set was one to forget for the Cardinal offense, hitting a match-low .051 en route to a 25-18 defeat, but gained control in the fourth set to take a 17-14 lead while forcing a Central timeout.
 
Central (10-12) did not go down without a fight however, closing the gap 21-19 late, but two more kills from Boelter-Eberhardt and two more Dutch errors allowed the Cardinals to close out the set with a four-point run and capture the final set 25-19.
 
Boelter-Eberhardt led all players with 17 kills, while Anna Billman added seven and Raymer finished with six.  Bryant handed out 25 assists, while Raymer led the way with 15 digs on defense and Epker added four total blocks.
 
Krissa Larson was the lone Dutch to finish with double-digit kills, leading the team with 10, while Landry Luhring and Melissa Miller each finished with six.  Luhring also led the Central defense with 18 digs, while Chapel Carter led the team with 23 assists.
 
The nightcap began much like the first match of the day, as the Cardinals stormed out of the gate with arguably their best set of the season, racking up a season-high 19 kills in the set to outlast the Royals, 27-25 to steal the first set.
 
With the score tied 23-23 late, Boelter-Eberhardt set up the set point for North Central with a kill, but the Royals fought off two-straight points with a pair of kills to turn the table and force set point upon the Cardinals.

Not to be denied, Epker knotted the score yet again at 25 with a kill following a North Central timeout, while a service ace off the hand of Claire Vrabec once again gave the Cardinals set point.  This time the Cardinal offense closed out the set as Kayla Dabrowski sent home the set-winning kill off an assist from Raymer to seal the victory.
 
That high was quickly short lived however, as North Central followed the best set of the season with one of the worst as Bethel (20-4) jumped out to a 13-2 lead early, forcing both Cardinal timeouts in the first 12 points of the set en route to the 25-13 final.
 
The Cardinals also lost their top offensive weapon in Boelter-Eberhardt to an injury in the second set and that proved to suck the wind out of North Central, as the Royals went on to win the final two sets in decisive fashion 25-17 and 25-14, respectively.
 
The offense was plagued by 31 attack errors and 13 reception errors in the match, while Bethel committed just 11 attack errors and four reception errors.
 
Raymer led the Cardinals with a 14-kill, 14-dig double-double in the nightcap, while Kiarah Horn dished out a career-high 40 assists.  Kuehl led defense with 20 digs, while Naal added 12 and Sarah Geosling finished with 10.
 
Maria Claflin paced the Royal offense with a match-high 15 kills, while Tina Hoppe added 14.  Hannah Wilhite handed out 28 assists, while Allie Fauth led all players with five service aces.
 
North Central hits the road for two-straight matches starting with Carthage College on Tuesday, Oct. 16, scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  Links to live in-game coverage are available HERE.