Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Nov. 1, 2022) - Playing in their first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament match since 2009, the North Central College women's volleyball team fell to the hands of Augustana College in a tightly contested four-set match on Tuesday night inside of Gregory Arena.

A kill from Danni Moser opened the scoring for both sides before back-to-back kills from Amber Vande Hei gave the Cardinals a 3-1 advantage. Both teams traded points until a 4-1 run from North Central pushed their lead to 17-12. The Vikings responded with a 5-2 rally to bring themselves within two. A service ace from Augustana tied the contest at 21 as the Vikings scored four of the next six points to take the first set, 25-23.

Back-to-back service aces from Taylor O'Malley gave North Central a 3-0 lead before the Vikings evened the second set at 5-5. An ace from Emma Happ capped off a 10-2 run to put the Cardinals in the driver's seat. Kills from Moser and Kendra Battle followed by three Viking errors knotted the match at one, with a 25-18 North Central win in set two.

Again, North Central jumped out to an early lead as Moser's kill put the Cardinals on top, 4-1. Augustana answered by tying the set at 11. Both teams went back and forth until an Aidan Brown kill sparked a four-point swing for North Central. The Vikings responded again to score seven of the final eight points to secure a 25-22 victory in set three.

The Vikings opened the fourth set with a 9-5 lead. A block from Moser and Vande Hei closed the Cardinals' deficit to just two, 12-10. Augustana went on a 5-1 run and would lead the rest of the way to claim a 25-18 win in set four to secure a 3-1 victory.

Moser led the Cardinals with 12 kills followed by Brown and Battle with eight. Emily Stallmann posted 32 digs while Vande Hei, Moser, and Happ each tallied four blocks. O'Malley sent out 24 assists with Anna Gawron recording 13.

On the year, North Central finished with a 14-11record, their first winning season since 2017. A fourth-place finish was the highest for the Cardinals in the CCIW since 2012.

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