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

Apr. 21, 2023 - Having to battle back from a 2-1 set deficit in its NCAA regional semifinal match, the North Central College men's volleyball team defeated the Benedictine University Eagles in five sets on their home court in Gregory Arena Friday night. The Cardinals advance to the Regional Championship match on Saturday where they will have their fourth and final meeting with the Carthage College Firebirds.

This marks back-to-back years where the Cardinals were met with a five-set thriller in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and the first time ever advancing to the elite eight and regional championship match. North Central (23-3) took down Benedictine (18-8) earlier this season in four sets before meeting them again in the regional semifinal. 

North Central hit for .264 as a team and were led by Jared Moser and Ben Williams with 23 and 20 kills, respectively. Luke Schmidt also hit double-digit kills with 12, while Tyler Donovan accounted for 55 assists. Moser's three service aces tied his single-season record of 35 that he set last season. Defensively, Ben Pluskota led the Cardinals with 12 digs while Mitchell Hester totaled three blocks, including the match-winning block assist with Moser. 

With Michael Szews at the service line to start the match, the Cardinals got up to a 2-0 advantage before the Eagles swung for a four-point rally to lead 5-3. Donovan notched a service ace to keep the set within two at 7-9, but Benedictine managed to lock in multiple two-point possessions to extend their lead. A block by Hester and Schmidt halted the Eagles at 18-23, but not long enough as Benedictine came back with back-to-back kills to take set one 25-18.

Both teams struggled to get the ball in play at the start of set two as they traded four-straight service errors and netted the score at six-all. Szews turned in a clutch effort at the service line, recording one ace and helping the Cardinals score six consecutive points to take a 12-6 advantage. North Central continued to inch closer to its set win before Donovan, Moser and Cardenas combined for the Cardinals three-point series that notched the victory, 25-17. 

A pair of three-point possessions for the Eagles gave Benedictine an early 10-6 lead early in the third set. The Cardinals rallied for seven straight points, featuring three kills by Williams to flip the script with a 14-11 advantage. Despite their phenomenal run, the Cardinals found themselves with a slew of errors that gave Benedictine the 27-25 set three victory.

With the Eagles up two sets to one, North Central really turned up the intensity as Moser started the Cardinals off with a pair of service aces in addition to a kill by Schmidt to take a 5-3 lead. North Central increased their lead with one and two-point possessions until Donovan showed out with a second-touch kill and a block assist with Hester to put the Cardinals in a comfortable 20-16 lead. Taking it one point at a time, Williams was able to finish out the set four win (25-21) with a kill heading into the fifth set.

Benedictine led early in the fifth set, notching a 8-5 lead at the halfway point with a four-point run but North Central answered quickly on the other side of the net, scoring five-straight points to take the lead at 11-9. Cardenas scored off an assist from Donovan as Gabriel Aguado was subbed in to serve. Aguado — known for his clutch efforts this season — assisted on a kill by Moser before Moser and Hester connected on a final block assist to take the fifth and final set 15-11. 

Carthage College defeated UC Santa Cruz 3-1 in Friday's second semifinal match to advance to the regional championship. The Cardinals have taken down Carthage in their three meetings this season and will go head-to-head with the Firebirds one last time at Saturday's regional championship match at 6 p.m. inside Gregory Arena.

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