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

Greenville Box Score

Alma Box Score

ELMHURST, Ill. (Aug. 30, 2019) – Opening the 2019 season at the Elmhurst College Invitational, the North Central College women's volleyball team dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 match to Greenville University in the opener before suffering a 3-0 loss at the hands of Alma College in the nightcap inside R.A. Faganel Hall.

The opener could not have started much better for North Central (0-2), as a back-and-forth first set saw the score tied 22-22 late.  A huge double block from Reagan Raymer and Kimberly Epker gave the Cardinals a slight advantage, before a kill from Celina Thacker forced set point.

Following a Greenville (1-0) kill, Epker sent home the set-winning kill off an assist from Kiarah Horn to take the opener 25-23.

Carrying that momentum into the second set, the Cardinals jumped out to a 7-2 lead and never looked back.  Kills from Sarah Geosling, Celina Thacker and Kaylee Allensworth, along with a service ace off the hand of Emmie Naal highlighted the run and forced a Greenville timeout.

The Cardinals kept their foot on the gas the rest of the set, once again forcing a Greenville timeout, taking advantage of three unforced Panther errors to take a 18-5 lead.

After rolling to a 25-10 second set win, the match took a sudden turn for the worse as Greenville broke open a 13-13 tie in the third set with four straight points in what proved to the be difference in the set as the Panthers held the lead the rest of the way and closed the set 25-19.

Still holding a 2-1 lead in the match, North Central had plenty of chances in the fourth set but could not pull away in the end.  With the score knotted at 21 late, the Panthers rallied to score the final four points of the set to force a fifth and final set.

Holding a 13-10 lead late and needing just two points to secure the victory, North Central seemed to have the set under control but two straight Panther kills and a bad set suddenly let Greenville back in the match.  Coming out of a Cardinal timeout, kills from Ashley Edmond and Sacorra Patton ended a five-point run and the match, stealing away a 15-13 fifth-set win.

Allensworth paced the Cardinal offense with 16 kills in the opener, while Raymer also finished in double figures with 13.  Horn dished out a match-high 48 assists, while Katelynn Kuehl led the defense with 28 digs.

The Greenville offense was led by 18 kills from Jasmin Smith, while Patton finished with 16.  Kaitlin Murray added 42 assists, while Smith also led the defense with 24 digs.

Following the tough loss, North Central came out slow in the nightcap with Alma (1-0) and never recovered, only holding the lead for two points all match.  The Scots opened up a 10-3 lead early in the opening set to force a Cardinal timeout.

North Central pulled to within four points of the lead as kills from Raymer and Epker, along with an Alma attack error trimmed the lead 15-11.  The Scots pulled it together after that however, closing the opening set with a 10-4 run en route to a 25-15 win.

After taking the opening point of the second set, Alma rattled off eight of the next 10 to force a Cardinal timeout and rolled from that point forward, taking a 2-0 match lead with a 25-10 win.

Once again jumping out to a big lead early, Alma began the third set with a 11-4 run but the Cardinals did not go down without a fight, clawing back to within two late.  Three kills from Madison Wright and another from Raymer cut the Scot lead 22-20, but a kill from Sara Majerle and two unforced Cardinal errors ended the set 25-21 in favor of the Scots.

North Central hit just .126 in the nightcap, compared to a .317 percentage from Alma, as eight kills from Raymer led the team, while Horn handed out 26 assists.

Majerle was a force to be reckoned with for Alma, leading all players with 22 kills while hitting .415 on the match.  Haley Novak dished out 29 assists while also finishing with eight kills, hitting .417 on the evening.  Defensively, Majerle also paced the Scots with 18 digs and two service aces.

North Central is back in action tomorrow in day two of the Elmhurst Invitational, taking on Heidelberg University at 10 a.m., followed by 18^th-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College at 12 p.m.  The link for live in-game statistics is available HERE.

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