Contact: Anna Fox, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, amfox@noctrl.edu
 
DUBUQUE, Iowa (Apr. 9, 2025) - Playing in their fourth consecutive College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) Tournament, No. 14 North Central College men's volleyball team fell to No. 11 Loras College 3-0, ending their season Wednesday night.
 
The first set was evenly matched, with the teams trading off points. Down by one at 7-8, the North Central capitalized on two Loras errors and a kill by Carson Steinbach (10-8). A service ace by PJ Vaughn gave the Cardinals the lead at 16-14, but the Duhawks quickly responded, taking three consecutive points to take the lead. Tied at 19-19, Loras took a 6-2 run to win the set 25-21.
 
North Central jumped to a 5-3 lead in the second set, capitalizing on Duhawk errors and two kills by Cooper Lundal. Loras rapidly found their footing to take an 8-2 run (11-7). Down 13-21, the Cardinals took a 5-2 run, including kills from Steinbach and Austin Scott (18-22). The teams traded off points, with the Duhawks winning the set 25-20.
 
It was Loras's turn to take an early lead in the third set (7-4). However, down 5-8, North Central earned six consecutive points with kills from Steinbach, Lundal, and Scott (11-8). The Duhawks made their own 7-1 run, capitalizing on Cardinal errors (19-15). At 17-21, North Central closed the gap, tying the score at 21-21. After trading off points, the set was tied at 23 all when back-to-back kills from Loras's Corey Mayotte ended the match (25-23).
 
Steinbach led the Cardinal's offense with 12 kills, and Tyler Donovan tallied 26 assists. Danny Smithers recorded nine digs, followed by Donovan (7) and BK Bartlett (6). Donovan and Lundal earned six blocks each. PJ Vaughan earned the Cardinal's lone service ace of the season.
 
North Central ended the season with an overall record of 15-7 (7-3 CCIW). The Cardinals had three athletes named to All-CCIW teams. North Central will graduate five athletes: Donovan, Mitchell Hester, Lundal, Scott, and Smithers.
 
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