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

DUBUQUE, Iowa. (Apr. 3, 2021) - Playing in their final game of the regular season, with College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) tournament implications on the line, the North Central College men's volleyball team came up short against Loras College on Saturday afternoon, 3-0.

In a back-and-forth opening set, kills from Nathan Jones, Jake Miller, and Jeremy Cardenas put the Cardinals ahead 9-7. Following a Loras 5-0 run, Matt Nealon's lone kill sparked four straight North Central points which forced a Duhawks timeout. With six lead changes and 13 ties in the first set, Ben Pluskota evened the score at 24 with his second kill of the contest. Loras closed out the set with back-to-back points to win the first set, 28-26.

Looking to bounce back in set two, Tyler Donovan set up Kevin Braceros for his first kill of the game to give the Cardinals an early 4-3 lead. Looking to end Loras' 8-3 lead, the Cardinals called a timeout. North Central forced three straight Duhawk attack errors to knot the set a 12 apiece. The Duhawks ended the set on a 6-3 run to break a 19-19 tie and take set two, 25-22.

In what would be the final set, North Central jumped out to a 6-4 lead thanks to back-to-back kills from Braceros. Loras responded with a 12-3 run, giving them a 17-10 advantage. The Duhawks went on to score the final three points and win the set 25-15, and the match, 3-0.

Jake Miller led the way for the Cardinals with eight kills on the day while Braceros and Cardenas tallied six kills. Dishing out 30 total assists, Matt Nealon posted 26 of them in the match. 

For Loras, Dorian Fiorenza totaled 14 kills over the three sets. Joe Horn recorded 36 assists as the Duhawks hit .253 overall.

North Central looks for revenge as they visit Loras College on Thursday for the semifinals of the CCIW Tournament. The match is set to begin at 7:00 PM inside of Lillis Court.

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