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

Nebraska Wesleyan Box Score

St. Thomas Box Score

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Sept. 1, 2018) – The North Central College women's volleyball team ran into two more tough teams this afternoon at the Colorado College Classic, dropping a heartbreaking 3-2 match to open the day to Nebraska Wesleyan University, before suffering a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the University of St. Thomas in the nightcap.

The Cardinals (0-4) fell behind 10-4 early in the opener, but slowly crawled back to even the score at 24 late.  Anna Billman set the Cardinals up for set point with a kill off a pass from Emily Huprich, before Kaylee Allensworth clinched the first set 26-24 with a kill off a set from Billman.

North Central carried that momentum into the second set, holding a 15-13 lead midway through before going on a 7-2 run, as Billman and Claire Vrabec teamed up for a pair of blocks during the run, while Allensworth capped the run with a service ace to increase the Cardinal lead 22-15.  The Cardinals then closed the set winning the final three points on a pair of Nebraska Wesleyan attack errors and another kill from Billman to take a 2-0 match lead.

The match took a turn for the worse however in the third set, as North Central held a 16-9 lead but would finish the set scoring just two more points, as Nebraska Wesleyan took 16 of the final 18 points.

The Prairie Wolves (2-2) then turned the tables with all the momentum to win the final two sets by scores of 25-22 and 15-7 to swipe the victory away from the Cardinals.

Kaitlyn Boelter-Eberhardt led the Cardinals with 17 kills, while Huprich and Kiarah Horn each dished out 17 assists.  Defensively, Katelynn Kuehl paced the team with 22 digs, while Allensworth added 13 and two service aces.

Kierra Harder led the Prairie Wolves offense with 17 kills, while Hannah Bellinghausen also finished in double figures with 11.  Cassidy Plooster handed out a match-high 39 assists, while Cera Craven finished with 19 digs on defense.

The Cardinals offensive struggles continued into the nightcap, running into a tough St. Thomas (3-0) squad, falling behind early and never recovering, hitting -.097 in the set to fall 25-13.

Attack errors continued to haunt the Cardinals in the second set, committing 10 to hit .000, dropping the second set 25-17 and the third by a score of 25-12.

Billman led the Cardinals with seven kills in the nightcap, while Huprich and Horn each finished with 11 assists. Additionally, Boelter-Eberhardt was named to the All-Tournament team, leading the Cardinals with 41 kills over the two day tournament.

Madie Kroehler led the St. Thomas offense with 10 kills, while Katharine Mallak led the team with 12 assists and Ellie Meyer added five service aces.

North Central returns to play on Friday, Sept. 7 in the opening day of the Loras College Invitational against Monmouth College at 5 p.m. held at Lillis Court in Dubuque, Iowa.