Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Oct. 6, 2021) - In a match where each team scored 20 or more points in every set, the North Central College women's volleyball team dropped a highly contested conference match, 3-1, to Illinois Wesleyan University on Wednesday night in the Shirk Center.
Early in the first set, back-to-back kills from Kendra Battle brought the Cardinals within one, 7-6. Following three Titan points, North Central responded with a 6-1 run to take a 12-11 lead. Both teams went back-and-forth before an Emma Happ kill knotted the set at 19 apiece. Looking to close out the opening set, Kaitlyn Boelter-Eberhardt and Abbi Barickman secured the final three points to give North Central a 25-23 victory.
Another kill from Battle tied the second set at 7-7 early on in the contest. With the set at 9-10, the Cardinals used a four-point swing to take the lead, 13-10. The Titans battled back as a 6-1 stretch late in the set pushed Illinois Wesleyan to a 25-21 win in set two.
The Titans continued their momentum into the third set by taking a 17-4 lead. North Central answered as a 5-2 run brought the Cardinals within single digits with a kill from Amber Vande Hei put the score at 19-11. Late in the set, another Vande Hei kill sparked a 7-0 Cardinal run, but it wasn't enough as the Titans won set three, 25-20.
Isabelle Guererro's kill brought the fourth set to a tie, at 8-8 before the Titans went on a four-point run of their own. The Cardinals bounced back with a 10-5 rally as North Central held a 19-18 advantage late in the set. Guerrero's sixth kill of the set extended play with the score at 25-25. Illinois Wesleyan prevailed in a set that saw four lead changes and 13 ties came to an end with the Titans on top, 28-26.
Guerrero led the Cardinals with 15 kills, a season-high for her. Maddi Barickman sent out 20 assists, followed by Anna Gawron with 16 assists on the night. Emily Stallmann also posted a season-high with 26 digs in the match. As a team, North Central tallied six service aces. Leading the Titans was Courtney McAuliffe who totaled 14 kills while Madi Cory dished out 30 assists.
The Cardinals are back in action on Friday evening as they host the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers in a non-conference match. The contest is set to begin at 7 PM inside of Gregory Arena. You can find links to live video and live stats
HERE.
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