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

Apr. 12, 2023 - Defeating the Vikings from North Park University for the second time in five days, the North Central College men's volleyball team advances to the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) championship match for the second straight year, this time as the No. 1 seed and host institution.

The fifth-ranked Cardinals move to a 13-game winning streak with their improved 21-3, 10-0 CCIW record after taking down No. 4 seed North Park (12-16, 2-8 CCIW) in three sets in Wednesday night's CCIW semifinal match. Ben Williams led the Cardinals with 13 kills while Jared Moser totaled 11 kills and 11 digs. Parker Nelson matched Moser's 11 digs while Tyler Donovan helped North Central to a .483 hitting percentage with his 37 assists on the night. Donovan and Mitchell Hester each had three blocks.

North Central picked up a 6-2 lead early in set one thanks to a pair of kills by Donovan that led to a Cardinal five-point run. With Michael Szews at the service line, the Cardinals extended their lead to 15-6 with kills from Luke Schmidt and Jeremy Cardenas while Szews capped off the six-point rally with a service ace. A pair of kills by Hester put North Central at set point just before Moser sealed the set one win, 25-12.

The Vikings managed to trade points with the Cardinals at the start of set two but with the score tied at five-all, Moser led a three-point possession with a kill and an ace to have North Central lead 8-5. North Park held the Cardinals to two-point possessions for much of the second set but struggled to score more than one point at a time for themselves. With North Central leading 22-15, Cardenas knocked down a kill to put Gabriel Aguado on the service line for three more points before Donovan and Hester connected on a block to secure the second set 25-15. 

Williams played a crucial role in the Cardinals set three win, totaling eight kills on 11 attempts. With North Central leading 20-8, North Park battled for four-straight points to bring the score to 12-20. Hester went back-to-back with a kill and a block to put the Cardinals up 23-13 before a Vikings attack error and a kill by Williams secured the set three win 25-14.

No. 1 seed North Central advances to the CCIW championship match on Saturday, April 15 and will host the No. 2 Carthage College Firebirds inside Gregory Arena with the match time to be announced. 

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