Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

KENOSHA, Wis. (Apr. 9, 2022) - The North Central College men's volleyball team made its presence felt in its first appearance in a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament championship match Saturday, taking the fight to the top-seeded Carthage College Firebirds before the hosts responded in kind and defeated the Cardinals, 3-1, at Tarble Arena.

Playing aggressively from the outset, North Central opened the evening with an 8-3 run, punctuated by four early kills from Jared Moser. Carthage eventually rallied and tied the score on three occasions, the last of which came at 18-18. Austin Scott's kill nudged the Cardinals (19-4) back in front and the visitors stayed there the remainder of the set, as Nathan Jones scored the team's final two points in a 25-23 win.

Little separated the two teams in the second set, as the score was tied 14 times. With the count knotted at 22-22, Carthage (20-3) saw its front line take charge as the Firebirds scored their final three points of the sets on blocks to win, 25-23, and level the match at one set each.

A run of three straight points midway through the third set put Carthage in front, 12-9. A Cardinal timeout ended the rally, but the Firebirds stayed a step ahead and won, 25-21, before breaking the fourth set open with a 7-1 surge and closing out the match, 25-17.

Moser is now North Central's single-season record holder for kills (258) and service aces (34) after leading the Cardinals with 18 kills and two assists Saturday. Jeremy Cardenas finished with nine kills and Matt Nealon totaled 38 assists.

Matt Slivinski led all attackers with 25 kills for Carthage.

Preliminary site selections and first-round pairings for the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship will be announced Monday, Apr. 11 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time on ncaa.com. 

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