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

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (Mar. 18, 2022) - After falling in the first set, the North Central College men's volleyball team won three straight sets to beat Illinois Wesleyan University on Friday inside the Shirk Center, extending its record to 15-1.

The Cardinals found themselves trailing 11-9 in set one but battled back to even the score at 13 apiece. North Central attempted to keep the score close but eventually fell to the Titans in set one 25-18. Looking to bounce back in set two, the Cardinals rallied behind Jeremy Cardenas and Jared Moser who tallied five and four kills, respectively, to take set two 25-22.

Set three saw the Cardinals break away early with a 14-9 lead. North Central traded points with the Titans but never gave Illinois Wesleyan a shot at the lead as Ben Williams and Moser tallied four kills each to take the win 25-18.

Wasting no time, the Cardinals jumped to a 13-7 lead and continued their climb to a 25-19 set win. Cardenas lead set four with four kills while Williams and Moser each had three.

Matt Nealon's 45 set assists moved him into the program's No. 3 spot for assists in a four-set match, just below his No. 2 rank of 46 that he earned on Saturday against Fontbonne University. Cardenas and Moser led the Cardinals in kills with 14 each and Moser led with three service aces on the evening. Defensively, Ben Pluskota led with 11 digs. 

For the Titans, Michael Eastman led with 15 kills, followed by Luke Hartke with 10. Bradley Benson had 21 assists while Vince DiCosola had 18. Adam Blackmore led defensively with seven digs. 

The Cardinals host the California Lutheran University Kingsmen on Monday inside Gregory Arena at 7 p.m.

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