Contact: Anna Fox, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, amfox@noctrl.edu
 
NAPERVILLE, ILL. (Oct. 28, 2023) - Going head to head with #6 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the North Central College women's volleyball team dropped the match 3-1 prior to defeating Knox College 3-1.
 
In the first match of the day against Whitewater, the Cardinals started off down 5-1. Two kills from Aidan Brown, assisted by Maddi Barickman, kept North Central in the game. Even with kills from Amber Vande Hei, Kendra Battle, and Abbi Barickman, the Cardinals were never quite able to catch up and dropped the first set 25-18.
 
Down 4-0 in the second set, with Danni Moser's serves and a kill from Aidan Brown the Cardinals were able to tie up the game 4-4. Rallies went back and forth, but the Cardinals ended up with a four point lead before the Warhawks were able to tie the set once again. From there points were going back and forth until the end of the set when Whitewater was able to pull away, winning 25-23.
 
North Central took control early on in the third set, up 8-3 from a kill from A. Barickman and several errors from the Warhawks. The Cardinals kept the momentum with three serving aces from M. Barickman and kills from Battle, Brown, and Moser. The Cardinals closed out the set 25-18 with a kill from Vande Hei.
 
The Warhawks went on a five point run in the fourth set, fortunately the Cardinals were able to close the gap making it 10-9. Whitewater used their momentum to inch away from the Cardinals ultimately winning the final set 25-18.
 
In the second match of the day, both teams battled throughout the first set leading to 13 ties and four lead changes between the teams. North Central posted 55 kills and 13 serving aces but it was not enough to edge away from the Prairie Fire. North Central dropped the first set 26-24 after a well placed kill from the Knox offense.
 
Like the first set the Cardinals and the Prairie Fire were in a tight contest in the second set. Majila Spahij tied the game at 4-4 with a serving ace and the Cardinals started to pull ahead after a kill from Kendal Franklin, 6-5. After 10 kills from the Cardinals and a serving ace, North Central was up 20-15. The set ended with a serving error from the Knox offense.
 
After a win in the second set, North Central took their momentum into the third set. A kill from Clark would lead the Cardinals to an eight point run. After a couple points that went back and forth, the Cardinals took another six point run with the help of Anna Gawron. With a kill from Moser and two errors on the Prairie Fire, North Central won 25-8.
 
Never looking back, the Cardinals ran with a 7-1 lead. Kills from Moser, Gawron, Clark, and Emma Happ continued to increase North Central's lead to 19-7. Alexie Stiles finished off the game with a kill from a set from Gawron.
 
Clark led the Cardinals in aces (7), while Danni Moser and A. Barickman both had 14 kills each. Gawron had 42 assists on the day while M. Barickman tallied 33 assists in match one.
 
North Central will host Elmhurst University for their final regular season game on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. inside Gregory Arena.
 
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