Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Mar. 31, 2021) - Playing in their final home match of the regular season, the North Central College men's volleyball team swept Augustana to avenge an earlier season loss on senior night inside of Gregory Arena.

Starting all three seniors, the Cardinals got to work early as a kill from Jeremy Cardenas put North Central in front, 3-2. Ben Pluskota used his lone ace of the contest to give the Cardinals a 10-8 lead as both teams played a tightly contested first set. North Central finished the set with a 6-2 rally to take set one, 25-20.

Early in the second set, a Vikings service error sparked a 10-2 run that was capped off by a kill from Pluskota, set up by Matt Nealon to give North Central an 11-4 advantage. Later on in the set, Kevin Braceros hit his third kill of the set as the Cardinals rolled to a second set victory, 25-19. 

Looking for their seventh sweep of the season, a kill by Jake Miller evened the score at 7-7. The Vikings went on a run of their own as a kill from Sanchit Khaitan put North Park up by five, 17-12. The Cardinals responded with a 5-0 rally to tie the contest at 17. Both teams went back-and-forth before North Central won the final three points, with help from a Miller service ace to take the final set, 26-24 and the match, 3-0.

Two Cardinals recorded double-digit kills as Miller posted 12 while Pluskota tallied 11. In the assist column, Nealon dished out 31, and Samuel Kharasch added two. Kharasch ties himself in fourth-place in program history with 13 digs for a three-set match.

Justin Murphy posted 13 kills to lead the Vikings as Khaitan tallied 28 assists. As a team, North Park hit .143 on the evening.

North Central travels to Dubuque, Iowa for their final contest of the regular season on Saturday afternoon. You can find links to full game coverage HERE.

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