Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Sept. 8, 2023) - Playing in their first home match of the season, the North Central College women's volleyball team held Nebraska Wesleyan University to a .089 hitting percentage on their way to a 3-0 Cardinals victory inside Gregory Arena.
North Central jumped out to an early 11-3 lead as kills from Amber Vande Hei, Lauren Benson, Abbi Barickman, and Aidan Brown propelled the Cardinals to the eight-point advantage. Brown's second service ace of the set pushed the lead to 19-7 as Danni Moser's kills secured an opening set victory, 25-13.
With an evened 8-8 second set, the Cardinals scored 10 of the next 11 points as the run was capped off by Benson's first kill of set two. Moser extended the lead to nine with a kill, set up by Maddi Barickman. Clinching the second set of the match, Benson sent home her sixth kill of the day to give North Central a 25-18 win.
After the Prairie Wolves jumped out to an early lead, a kill from Moser and an ace from Brown knotted the contest at five. Down by four, a block from M. Barickman and Benson turned the momentum towards the Cardinals as a kill from Kendra Battle put North Central within one, 17-16. The Cardinals regained the lead on an NWU attack error as part of a 9-1 rally to end the match. Vande Hei recorded block assists on the final two points of the match as North Central won 25-19 in the third and final set.
M. Barickman dished out 34 assists on the night, moving her to ninth all time in program history with 1,223 career assists. She also led the team with four blocks and three aces. A. Barickman (9), Moser (9), and Benson (7) led the attack for North Central. As a team, the Cardinals hit .265 with a .323 percentage in the final set.
Back in action tomorrow, North Central hosts Greenville University at 2 p.m. and Monmouth College at 4 p.m. Live in Gregory Arena to wrap up the North Cental Invitational.
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