Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324
CHICAGO (Aug. 30, 2024) - Kicking off the 2024 season, the North Central College women's volleyball team cruised to sweeps of Carleton College and St. Olaf University to begin newly appointed head coach
Ray Gooden's time with the Cardinals on Friday night at the Ratner Athletics Center.
A kill from Abbi Barickman sparked a five-point run for the Cardinals early on in the opening set, taking a 5-1 lead. Katie Godo notched her first career ace to double up the Knights, 10-5. Lauren Benson kept the offense moving with a kill, set up by Maddi Barickman to put North Central on top, 15-10. Carleton battled back to even the score at 17-17. Both teams traded points until the Knights took a 21-19 lead, forcing the Cardinals to take their final timeout. Kills from Benson, Riley Clark and A. Barickman charged the North Central offense, taking a 23-22 advantage. After a block from Clark and Benson, Clark scored the final point on an assist from M. Barickman to secure the set one win, 25-23.
Gaining control early in the second set, an ace from M. Barickman gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. After the teams traded points, kills from Benson and Abby Buban put North Central ahead by four, 12-8. Another kill from Benson forced a Knights timeout. A block from Clark capped off a 7-1 run for the Cardinals, taking a 17-9 advantage. The Knights rallied back, coming within a point, 24-23. A kill from A. Barickman, set up by her sister M. Barickman clinched the second set victory for the Cardinals, 25-23.
After falling behind 7-3 in the third set, the Cardinals came back to even the set at 10-10 thanks to a kill from M. Barickman, dished out by Bailey Houlihan. With an ace from A. Barickman and a kill from Benson, North Central held a slight 14-13 edge in set three. Carleton posted a 7-1 run to take a 20-16 advantage. Again the Cardinals battled back to come within a point, 20-19 on a block from Najwa Williams and Amber Vande Hei. A kill from Vande Hei sparked a run for the Cardinals by rattling off five straight points to claim another 25-23 win to earn a 3-0 victory over Carleton.
Benson led North Central with 12 kills, followed closely by A. Barickman with 10 to pace the offense. M. Barickman dished out 32 assists over the three sets. Defensively, Houlihan racked up 21 digs while recording two aces. Clark and Benson each netted three blocks in the match. The Cardinals hit .162 as a team while holding the Knights to a .120 hitting percentage.
In the second match of the day, a block from Benson kicked off the scoring as the teams went back and forth until a five-point swing gave the Cardinals a 12-9 lead. After the Knights came within one point, North Central scored six of the next eight points to remain on top, 18-13. Three kills from Vande Hei down the stretch earned North Central a 25-17 win in the opening set.
The Cardinals kept the momentum going as Danni Moser's kills capped off a 9-2 run to open the second set. After the teams traded points, the Oles climbed back within two, 18-16 before tying the set at 19. A kill from A. Barickman swung the momentum back to North Central as the Cardinals scored the final four points, including a Houlihan ace to secure a 25-21 win.
Looking for their second sweep of the day, Benson gave the Cardinals an early 5-3 edge with a kill. Vande Hei opened a 6-1 run for North Central who took a 14-9 lead. Maintaining the lead, Demi Carpio delivered back-to-back aces before A. Barickman closed out the match with her 13th kill to win the set 25-18 and the match, 3-0.
M. Barickman racked up 34 assists while A. Barickman (13) and Vande Hei each recorded double-digit kills. Houlihan and Godo notched 10 digs with Aleesa Zebold tallying nine. The Cardinals hit .250 in the match with the Oles posting a .147 hitting percentage.
North Central heads to the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Tournament next weekend for four matches in two days. The Cardinals face Whitworth University (3 p.m.) and St. Catherine University (5 p.m.) on Friday before taking on Lakeland University (9 a.m.) and the host, No. 5 UW-Oshkosh (11 a.m.) on Saturday.
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