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

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. (Aug. 29, 2025) - The North Central College women's volleyball team opened its season with a commanding 3-0 sweep of Eureka College on Friday night at the Illinois College Lady Blue Invitational, held inside Sherman Gymnasium.

The Cardinals jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set behind back-to-back kills from Abby Buban and two service aces from Sarah Harvey. Danni Moser added three kills to extend the lead to 9-2. After forcing a Eureka timeout, Sarah Lezon recorded her first kill in a Cardinal uniform. A service ace from Katie Godo capped a 15-3 run, helping North Central cruise to a 25-10 win in the opening set.

North Central continued its dominance in the second set. Aleesa Zebold's ace pushed the lead to 8-2, and two consecutive aces and a kill from Moser stretched the advantage to 16-6, prompting another Eureka timeout. Lauren Benson added a solo block, and Ava Hoff followed with an ace to make it 20-7. Abranet Layne and Moser closed out the set with kills, sealing a 25-9 victory.

In the third set, Harvey tallied six assists in North Central's first nine points, helping the Cardinals take a 9-4 lead. Demi Carpio delivered a service ace, and Moser followed with back-to-back kills to double up the Red Devils, 18-9. Jordan Surber's ace and kill from Layne closed out the final set with a 25-13 third set victory to complete the 3-0 sweep.

Moser tallied 10 kills with five digs, three aces, two assists and a block on the night. Layne (8), Benson (7), Buban (7) and Lezon (6) added to the Cardinal attack. Harvey dished out 27 aces over the three sets with five digs. As a team, North Central hit .322 while holding the Red Devils to a -.025 mark offensively. 

North Central wraps up the Lady Blue Invitational on Saturday with matches against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology at 10 a.m. and Illinois College at noon, both inside Sherman Gymnasium.