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

ROCK ISLAND, Ill (Mar. 6th, 2021) - The North Central College men's volleyball team came up short against Augustana College on Saturday evening as the Cardinals fell in four sets inside of the Carver Center.

Both teams kept it close in the early stages of the opening set. Back to back kills by Jeremy Cardenas gave the Cardinals a slight 5-3 advantage. A Jared Moser kill set up by Ben Williams forced a timeout when North Central took a 14-10 lead. The Vikings would respond as they went on a 5-0 run of their own to go ahead 17-16. Augustana would close out the first set, 25-22.

Leading from start to finish in the second set, the Vikings found themselves with a 2-0 lead. Determined to make a comeback, North Central responded in the third set. After being tied at 15 a piece, the Cardinals answered the bell with 10 straight points to secure set three. Nathan Jones and Williams added two kills each over that stretch.

In the fourth set, Augustana jumped out to a 10-5 lead, forcing a Cardinal timeout. Later in the set, a block by Tyler Donovan and Jones brought North Central back within four, 20-16. The Vikings would prevail despite the Cardinals best efforts, 25-21.

Jake Miller led the Cardinals in kills as he racked up 13 over the four sets. Moser would end up with 10 while Matt Nealon totaled 24 assists on the evening. As a team, North Central hit .125 and held Augustana to .071.

For the Vikings, Jarod Hesse tallied eight kills with Luis Zavala and Justin Murphy adding six. Sanchit Khaitan dished out 26 assists over the four sets.

North Central is back in action on Wednesday as they welcome Loras College to Gregory Arena. The match is set ot begin at 7:00 PM. You can find live video and stats HERE.