Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Sept. 1, 2023) - Kicking off their 2023 season, the North Central College women's volleyball team defeated Webster University, 3-1, before losing a tightly contested battle to No. 14 Washington University in St. Louis, 3-1 on Friday evening.
Lauren Benson recorded the first kill of the season on an assist from Maddi Barickman. A kill from Aidan Brown put the Cardinals ahead 4-3 early in the opening set. The teams traded points throughout the set as another kill from Benson gave North Central a 17-14 advantage. Brown's kill late in the set sparked a 5-1 rally as the Cardinals closed out set one with a 25-19 win.
Set two saw Abbi Barickman give North Central a 6-4 lead before an ace from her sister Maddi put the Cardinals on top 8-4. An ace from Taylor O'Malley extended the lead to nine, 16-7. North Central secured the set by scoring the final five points to take a 25-12 win. The third set went back-and-forth as well with a kill from Katie Little giving the Cardinals an 8-7 advantage. Webster took the lead shortly after and never gave it back to push the match to a fourth set.
A M. Barickman ace pushed the Cardinals ahead by two, 7-5 in set four. A 7-2 rally sparked by Riley Clark's kill put North Central in the driver's seat as they cruised to a 25-15 win in the fourth and final set to earn a 3-1 victory. A. Barickman led with 16 kills while M. Barickman dished out a match-high 35 assists. Aleesa Zeebold racked up 17 digs in the match. As a team, the Cardinals hit .218 while holding the Gorlocks to .083.
In their match against No. 14 WashU, an ace from M. Barickman brought the Cardinals within two, 6-4. The Bears went on a run, but North Central fought back as a kill from Clark and a WashU error put the Cardinals within one, 16-15. North Central kept it close, but the Bears took a 25-19 win in the first set.
An ace from Benson gave North Central a 5-1 lead early in set two. Clark's fifth kill of the match made the score 12-8 before WashU battled back to knot the score at 14. Neither team pulled away as an ace from M. Barickman tied the contest at 19-19. The Cardinals retook the lead thanks to an A. Barickman kill, 21-20. WashU scored four of the final five points to take the second set, 25-23.
Looking to avoid the sweep, a kill from Clark gave North Central an early 4-3 lead. With the Bears holding an 11-7 lead, North Central scored the next six points to retake the lead. Again the teams traded points as a kill from Aidan Brown tied the set at 18. North Central closed the set on a 7-1 run to earn a 25-19 victory in set three. Brown's second kill of set four knotted the contest at 5-5 as teams continued to go back-and-forth. WashU scored eight unanswered points to take control of the fourth and final set as they won 25-18 and the match, 3-1.
A. Barickman led all players with 22 kills with Zeebold tallying a match-high 30 digs. M. Barickman recorded 43 assists and five aces. North Central hit .107 while WashU tallied a .193 hitting percentage.
The Cardinals close out the WashU Bear Invite tomorrow as they face No. 23 Otterbein University at 12:30 p.m. and Hendrix College at 2:30 p.m.
Download the free North Central Cardinals app for iOS and Android devices to receive up-to-the-minute news, scores, and updates on your favorite North Central teams. Click HERE for more information.
