Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
Oct. 2, 2024 - Taking advantage of an eight-point swing in the third set, the North Central College women's volleyball team rallied to defeat Wheaton College. 3-1 to earn their first College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin victory of the season on Wednesday night inside Gregory Arena.
Lauren Benson's second kill of the opening set put the Cardinals within one, 7-6 early on. After each team traded runs, a kill from Riley Clark and a Thunder error knotted the contest at 18-18. With the contest evened at 23-23, Abbi Barickman and Amber Vandei teamed up for a block before Maddi Barickman found her sister Abbi who secured the first set with a kill to take a 25-23 victory in set one.
Wheaton jumped out to an early lead in the second set as Bailey Houlihan faked out the Thunder squad to notch her second kill of the season to bring the Cardinals within three, 8-5. Using a 10-2 run down the stretch, Wheaton clinched a 25-19 set two victory.
Vande Hei's third block of the night evened the score at 1-1 before kills from Benson and Barickman gave the Cardinals an early lead in the third set. The Thunder stormed back to take a 15-9 advantage. With Wheaton ahead 19-13, a kill from Clark sparked an 8-0 run from North Central to give the Cardinals a 21-19 edge. North Central scored the final three points of the set to claim a comeback 25-22 win in set three.
An ace from Houlihan and a block from Benson gave the Cardinals an early 4-1 advantage in set four. Demi Carpio delivered an ace to extend North Central's lead to six, 11-5. The teams traded points as Benson's second kill of the set put the Cardinals up 17-12. Buban began a 6-1 run, capped off by back-to-back kills from A. Barickman to lock up a 25-19 win, granting North Central a 3-1 victory over Wheaton.
Vande Hei led all players with 13 kills and six blocks, both season-highs.M. Barickman dished out 40 assists over the four sets while Houlihan totaled 23 digs on the night. For the Thunder, Ashton Major recorded 12 kills with Lacey Higgins sending out 21 assists. The Cardinals hit .195 while holding Wheaton to a .128 hitting percentage.
North Central (11-6, 1-1 CCIW) continues CCIW play Friday night with a match at Elmhurst University (7-6, 0-2 CCIW). The first serve is set for 7 p.m. inside R.A. Faganel Hall.
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