Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
NAPERVILLE, Ill (Oct. 8, 2022) - Closing out the Tiffany Robinson Memorial Tournament, the North Central College women's volleyball team defeated the University of Wisconsin-River Falls 3-1 on Saturday afternoon to extend their home winning streak to five in a row.
A kill from Katie Little opened a 6-0 run for the Cardinals to open the first set. Aidan Brown and Abbi Barickman notched kills to push the North Central lead to nine, 11-2. Following Amber Vande Hei's first kill of the match, the Cardinals tallied a 5-1 rally to take the first set, 25-11.
A service ace from Maddi Barickman tied the second set at four before a Taylor O'Malley ace capped off an 8-0 Cardinal run as they took a 14-9 lead. Both teams traded points until back-to-back kills from Brown gave North Central an 18-13 advantage. The Falcons responded and closed the gap to two, but a kill from Maddi Barickman finished UW-River Falls off as the Cardinals won set two, 25-22.
Each team went back and forth to begin the third set as a kill from Little brought the Cardinals within one, 11-12. With neither team giving in, a kill from Vande Hei knotted the set at 19. Another service ace from Maddi Barickman gave the Cardinals a 22-20 lead but the Falcons answered with five of the next six points to win set three, 25-23.
Emma Happ's first kill began a 4-0 run from North Central to take a 9-5 lead in the fourth set. Maddi Barickman set up her sister Abbi Barickman for a kill to begin a 6-2 rally as the Cardinals took a 17-11 lead. Holding the lead until the end, North Central took advantage of a Falcons error to claim set four, 25-20, and win the match 25-20.
On the day, the Cardinals hit .270 while holding UW-River Falls to .222 over the four sets. Maddi Barickman sent out 44 assists while also leading the team in digs (14) and service aces (5). Abbi Barickman tallied 14 kills with Brown at 13 and Little at 12.
North Central continues non-conference action by visiting Concordia University Chicago on Tuesday evening. The first serve is set for 7 p.m. inside of Geiseman Gymnasium in River Forest.
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