Contact: Taiah Gallisath, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, tkgallisath@noctrl.edu

DUBUQUE, Iowa (Mar. 4, 2023) - The North Central College men's volleyball program continues its undefeated run in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play as the Cardinals defeated Loras College for five sets on the Duhawks' Lillis Court on Saturday. 

This marks the Cardinals first win on Lillis Court since 2020 and their second straight win over the Duhawks, the last being the semi-final round of the CCIW Tournament last season. North Central moves to a 12-3, 3-0 CCIW record on the year as they handed Loras (12-2, 1-1 CCIW) its second loss of the year, and first loss in CCIW play. 

The first set saw 13 tied scores and seven lead changes. With Loras leading 19-23 after a four point run, Jeremy Cardenas put together three kills for the Cardinals' last five points to tie the score at 24-all. A kill by Loras's Corey Mayotte and an attack error gave the Duhawks the first set win in extra points at 26-24.

Five-straight points early in the second set built a 9-3 gap for North Central. The Duhawks held the Cardinals to one and two point possessions for the rest of set two but that early lead never wavered as North Central took set two, 25-19.

Loras developed a 5-1 lead at the start of set three, but the Cardinals managed to take control with five-consecutive points, bringing the score to 16-14. Three more points featuring kills by Jared Moser and Connor Davis extended the lead to 20-16, and while the birds traded points for the remainder of the set, Moser put down a final kill to take the set 25-21 and lead 2-1 heading into set four. 

North Central managed to keep the score close as the start of set four until Loras picked up three points to lead 7-11. With the Cardinals struggling with one-point possessions to the Duhawks two-points, Loras evened the sets at 2-2 with a 25-18 set four win. 

With the match on the line, the Cardinals gave up the opening point in the fifth set before two Duhawk errors put North Central in a 3-2 lead. Loras fought to tie the score twice but the Cardinals lead never wavered. Luke Schmidt got in on two crucial block with Ben Williams then Davis to take the final set 15-13.

Moser was a key component of the Cardinals offense, tallying 22 kills on the day with 10 digs and a service ace. Schmidt and Cardenas each had 12 kills while Cardenas also had three blocks. Davis and Tyler Donovan each had four kills and Donovan totaled 52 assists, seven digs, and a service ace on the day. 

North Central will take the week to prepare for a top-10 match-up as they host CCIW foe and No. 4 Carthage College on Saturday, March 11. Match time is set for 3 p.m. inside Gregory Arena. 

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