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

Feb. 26, 2022 - The fourth-ranked North Central College men's volleyball team turned in their third-consecutive three-set sweep as they snagged another College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) win over Augustana College on Saturday afternoon in Gregory Arena.

The Cardinals now hold a 3-0 conference record within a 10-0 overall season record. 

Back-to-back kills by Jake Miller and a kill by Jared Moser got the Cardinals moving into a 4-1 lead early in set one. North Central continued to build on their lead two points at a time until a five-point rally put the Cardinals up 18-8. Two kills and a service ace by Ben Williams helped the Cardinals finish out set one with a .765 hitting percentage and a 25-14 set win.

With new faces on the court, North Central struggled to gain their momentum in set two, keeping the score tight but falling to Augustana 8-5 early on. Austin Scott took advantage of a vulnerable Vikings defense by throwing down a kill and teaming up with Jeremy Cardenas for a block assist that brought the Cardinals to a five-point stretch to lead 10-8. With two more five-point possessions, North Central took set two 25-15.

North Central controlled much of the third set, taking points a couple at a time to bring the score to 24-16 for the game point. The Vikings found their intensity late in set three to rally for six straight points to bring the score to 22-24 before Scott put down the kill to end the match 25-22. 

Scott, Moser, and Miller led the Cardinal offense with seven kills each while Cardenas had six. Matt Nealon had 21 assists before Tyler Donovan relieved him for another eight. Ben Pluskota led defensively with five digs. Nathan Jones had three solo blocks while Miller and Cardenas tallied two block assists each. 

Augustana was led on offense by Aiden Bolen with six kills while Aiden Bond and Josh Van Essen had five each. Matthew Degnan and Ethan Keung split the assists with 13 and 10, respectively. Max Sellers had four digs while Benjamin Schultz and Bolen had three block assists each.

North Central hits the road for their next match against CCIW foe, and seventh-ranked Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis. on Mar. 2. 

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