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

WHITEWATER, Wis. (Sept. 16, 2022) - Playing in the Dig Pacini Tournament, the North Central College women's volleyball team fell to the hands of Concordia University Wisconsin 3-1 on Friday night in Kachel Fieldhouse.

Aidan Brown notched the first point of the opening set with a kill, set up by Emily Stallmann. A Taylor O'Malley service ace put the Cardinals ahead by two, 8-6 before the Falcons tied the contest at 13. Both teams battled before CUW ended the frst set with a 9-3 run to win 25-21.

North Central used three service aces and kills by Brown, Isabelle Guerrero, and Abbi Barickman to jump out to an 8-1 lead in the second set. CUW crawled their way back to a 9-9 tie, but again O'Malley showed off her serving abilities with three aces to spark a 7-0 rally for the Cardinals. Despite the Falcons' best efforts, North Central tied the match 1-1 with a 25-22 victory in set two.

The Falcons found themselves on top 11-4 before Guerrero and Maddi Barickman tallied kills to stop the run. A kill from Abbi Barickman brought the Cardinals within three, but that was as close as North Central would come in the third set as CUW won 25-18 to take a 2-1 advantage. O'Malley started the fourth set 2-0 thanks to a Falcon error and her fifth ace of the night. CUW fought back to take a 16-9 lead which they would hold throughout the rest of the set to secure the victory, 25-16.

Abbi Barickman and Amber Vande Hei led the Cardinals with eight kills each with Brown right behind at seven. Maddi Barickman dished out 29 assists in addition to her 12 digs. As a team, North Central tallied 12 aces, five coming from O'Malley and four from Maddi Barickman.

The Cardinals wrap up the Dig Pacini Tournament tomorrow as they face Coe College at 12 PM before taking on the host No. 15 UW-Whitewater at 2 PM.

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