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

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Sept. 10, 2021) - Playing in the 19th annual Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament, the North Central College women's volleyball team won their third straight match to begin the 2021 season by taking down Blackburn College in three sets inside of Gregory Arena on Friday evening.

Maddi Barickman kicked off the first set with back-to-back aces and pushed the Cardinals (3-0) out to a 4-1 lead. Following even play on both sides, a kill set up by Anna Gawron, finished by Isabelle Guerrero sparked a 10-3 run to give the Cardinals a nine-point advantage, 22-13. Guerrero closed out the opening set with her fourth kill to secure a 25-17 first set victory.

North Central again jumped out to an early lead as three consecutive kills by Molly Kurtz gave the Cardinals a 5-1 edge over Blackburn (0-5) in the second set. The Beavers battled back and knotted the contest at 11-11 before another Kurtz kill started an 8-3 Cardinal rally. Blackburn didn't back down as they stayed strong late in the set to tie the contest at 24 apiece. North Central took advantage of a poor set by the Beavers followed by Abbi Barickman's seventh kill of the set to take the second set, 26-24.

Looking to finish the Beavers off in three sets, North Central used an 8-2 run to open the third set. Recording her first kill of the match, Emma Happ pushed the lead to 12-4 before the Cardinals closed the match on a 10-1 run to win the final set, 25-12.

A. Barickman led North Central with 11 kills over the three sets while nine total Cardinals tallied a kill in a well-rounded effort. Dishing out 46 assists as a team, M. Barickman sent out 30 of them on the night. Emily Stallman posted 18 digs while North Central hit a season-best .294 to earn the win. Lucy Magnussen recorded six kills for Blackburn while Abby Sobczak and Sabrina Kelsey each totaled six assists.

The Cardinals are back in action tomorrow as they face Central College (1-4) at 1 PM inside of Gregory Arena. You can find live stats and live video links HERE.

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