Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Sept. 2, 2023) - Improving to 3-1 on the year, the North Central College women's volleyball team swept No. 23 Otterbein University before winning a thrilling five-set match against Hendrix College to close out their opening weekend of action.
Back-to-back kills from Abbi Barickman put the Cardinals ahead 3-1 before an ace from Aleesa Zeebold gave them a 5-2 advantage. Riley Clark's kill doubled up Otterbein's score, 10-5. Another Zeebold ace sparked a 7-1 run as North Central ran away with the opening set, 25-14. An Amber Vande Hei kill put the Cardinals on top, 6-4 before back-to-back kills from Clark extended the lead to six, 12-6. Otterbein battled back to knot the second set at 15-15. A. Barickman capped off a 5-1 run for North Central with an ace as Lauren Benson put away the final point of the set for a 25-22 victory.
Looking for the Cardinals' first ranked victory since 2017, North Central jumped out to a 5-2 lead. Riley Clark's kill pushed the Cardinals advantage to seven, 12-5. A kill from Danni Moser sparked a 6-0 rally as Moser's second kill of the set secured the 25-14 win for North Central.
A. Barickman tallied 10 kills with M. Barickman recording 24 assists over the three sets. Zeebold racked up 15 digs as both Barickman's and Taylor O'Malley totaled two aces each. As a team, North Central hit .242 while holding Otterbein to a .100 hitting percentage.
In the second match of the day, Kendal Franklin scored the first point of the opening set. Three straight errors gave the Cardinals a 10-6 lead before A. Barickman pushed the advantage to 11-8. A kill from Moser put the Cardinals up 16-12 but the Warriors fought back to win 27-25 in a first set battle.
An ace from O'Malley gave North Central a 6-1 lead to begin the second set. Again Hendrix battled back to tie the set at 10 and extended their lead to four, 19-14. A. Barickman sparked a comeback attempt with a kill. A block from M. Barickman and Franklin tied the set up at 24 before back-to-back kills from A. Barickman secured the 26-24 win for the Cardinals.
The Warriors jumped out to an 8-5 lead in the third set. The teams traded points but Hendrix never trailed to take a 25-21 win into the fourth set. M. Barickman served up an ace early in set four to bring North Central within one, 6-5. Each team went back-and-forth until kills from A. Barickman and Clark followed by a pair of Cardinal blocks tied the contest at 18.With the score at 23-23, Brown broke the tie with a kill before Hendrix committed an attack error to give the Cardinals a 25-23 victory.
In the fifth and final set, Vande Hei's second kill of the set gave North Central a 4-3 edge. Hendrix took an 8-6 lead but the Cardinals found their momentum and closed out the match by scoring the final nine points to win the set 15-8 and the match, 3-2.
M. Barickman dished out 49 assists while A. Barickman tallied 17 kills. Zeebold totaled 18 digs in the match. North Central hit .293, edging out Hendrix's .229.
North Central will be live in Gregory Arena for the first time this season on Friday evening with a 7 p.m. matchup against Nebraska Wesleyan University.
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