Contact: Anna Fox, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, amfox@noctrl.edu
 
CHICAGO, ILL (Feb. 24, 2024) - The North Central College men's volleyball team attended a triangular meet hosted by the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) this weekend. The Cardinals swept both Mount Union and IIT 3-0.
 
The Cardinals met Mount Union on the court first this afternoon. North Central quickly went up 8-2 with the help of Raider errors. Up by six, a kill from Caelan Koth sent the Cardinals to earn three consecutive points (15-6). A kill by Jared Moser put North Central within two points to take the set. An attack error and a setting error from Mount Union gave the Cardinals a 25-12 win.
 
The second set started with the two teams trading off points. Tied at 6-6, three errors from the Raiders' offense, followed by a kill from Mitchell Hester, allowed the Cardinals to take the lead once again (10-6). Moser led North Central on another four-point run later in the set (17-11). North Central won the second set 25-18.
 
Once again, the two teams took turns earning points. North Central pulled away to take an 11-5 lead. A kill from Austin Scott and a service ace by Karson Eggert added to the Cardinal score (16-9). North Central took the set off a kill from Jeffery McEachern followed by an attack error from Mount Union.
 
After a quick turnaround, North Central was back on the court to take on Illinois Institute of Technology. The two teams traded off point, but the Cardinals found themselves down (6-7). North Central earned eight of nine points to take a 14-8 lead, however, the Raiders fought back to take six consecutive points (14-14). The teams went back to trading off points, but the North Central offense dominated with kills from Hester and Scott, followed by an error that put the Cardinals within one point of the end. Koth delivered North Central the set by a service ace (25-22).
 
North Central began the second set by earning four consecutive points (4-1). Moser led the Cardinals on another four-point run, recording two service aces and a kill (17-11). North Central held tight to their lead, finishing the set 25-18.
 
The third set saw 11 tied scores and seven lead changes. Tied at 5-5, the Scarlet Hawks began to pull away from the Cardinals (12-9). Tyler Donovan tied the set 15-15 with a service ace, but Illinois Tech tied the game again (17-17). North Central went on a four-point run (23-21), however, the match tied at 24-24. A kill by Moser and a service ace by Donovan allowed the Cardinals to earn their second sweep of the day (26-24).
 
Moser led the team with 22 kills, while Scott was not far behind with 18 kills. Donovan recorded 46 assists, while Will Padgett tallied 22 assists. Donovan led the team with 19 digs, with Koth right behind with 18 digs. Hester recorded seven blocks on the day.

No. 8 North Central prepares to take on No. 12 Carthage College at 7 pm Wednesday, Feb. 28, inside Gregory Arena.
 
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