Contact: Taiah Gallisath, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

Feb. 23, 2022 - With the second set inching past in extra points, the North Central College men's volleyball team picked up a three-set win against the Aurora University Spartans in the company of an energized Gregory Arena on Wednesday evening. 

Matt Nealon introduced set one by executing two consecutive service aces that razzed the Spartans into three-straight attack errors putting the Cardinals ahead 5-0 from the get-go. North Central never wavered from the lead and used a trio of kills each by Jared Moser and Jake Miller to snag set one 25-19.

Falling from a .417 hitting percentage in set one to a .148 in set two, North Central proved their grit against 24 tie scores and 12 lead changes to keep the score within two points. Kills by Miller and Ben Williams brought the score to 24-23, before a few errors by the Cardinals allowed the Spartans back in and ahead 26-25. Trading kills and attacks on both sides, a kill by Nealon put the Cardinals up 29-28 followed by an attack error by the Spartans to secure set two, 30-28.

North Central bounced back with a .333 hitting percentage in set three, as they took the lead 2-0 and never allowed the Spartans back in the game. Moser posted four kills alongside Williams putting down another three to take set three 25-20.

Moser led the Cardinals in kills with nine while Miller and Williams came out firing with eight each. Nealon led the team with 27 assists, seven digs, and matched Moser with three service aces each.

For the Spartans, Thomas Kovanic and John McCormack each had nine kills, while James Karwin had 29 assists. Kovanic had two aces and Alex Nonhof led defensively with 11 digs.

The Cardinals host the Augustana College Vikings for a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) match-up on Saturday. The match is set for 3 p.m.

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