Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Director of Athletics Communication, 630-637-5324

Oct. 24, 2025 - Earning a 3-1 victory over No. 13 Washington University in St. Louis (WashU), the North Central College women's volleyball team beat their second ranked team of the season on Friday afternoon inside Gregory Arena. 

A kill and back-to-back aces from Danni Moser gave North Central an early 4-1 lead in the opening set. The teams traded points until another Moser kill sparked a 7-1 rally to give the hosts a 15-8 advantage. Abranet Layne tallied three straight kills during the run. The Cardinals led the rest of the way as a kill by Lauren Benson, from Sarah Harvey, secured a 25-20 win in set one.

WashU opened up a 7-3 lead to begin the second set. A 10-3 run from the Bears was halted by a Lezon kill. Scoring six points in a row to close out set two, WashU won 25-12 to knot the match at 1-1.

The Bears jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the third set. Kills from Moser, Layne and Sarah Lezon brought the Cardinals back within two, 12-10. A 5-1 run from WashU was answered by a 7-1 North Central rally as the set was evened at 18-18. Layne and Buban scored four of the set's final five points to claim a 25-23 victory in set three.

A block from Layne and Moser followed kills from Buban and Benson as WashU held a 10-7 edge early in the fourth set. Jordan Surber stepped up with an ace after Harvey set up Benson to bring the Cardinals within two, 17-15. Three straight kills from Benson and an ace from Katie Godo gave North Central its first lead of the set, 19-18. After the Bears tied the contest at 19-19, North Central finished strong again as an ace from Benson secured the 25-20 victory and a 3-1 win over No. 13 WashU.

The win for North Central was the first over WashU in program history. Moser (13 kills) and Buban (12) led the Cardinal attack with Harvey sending out 40 assists on the day. Benson tallied four blocks with Moser at three. Aleesa Zebold posted 12 digs on the day with Moser and Harvey each at 10. The Cardinals hit .199 in the match with WashU hitting .210.

North Central returns to College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin play on Wednesday evening by visiting Millikin University. The first served between the Cardinals and Big Blue is set for 7 p.m. inside the Griswold Center. North Central won 3-0 last season in Naperville.