NCC Women’s Volleyball vs. IWU
Steve Woltmann
3
Winner North Central (IL) NCC 2-2,0-0 CCIW
0
Benedictine (IL) BenU 1-4,0-0 NACC
Winner
North Central (IL) NCC
2-2,0-0 CCIW
3
Final
0
Benedictine (IL) BenU
1-4,0-0 NACC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
North Central (IL) NCC 25 25 25 (3)
Benedictine (IL) BenU 23 19 12 (0)
0
Ripon RC 3-3,0-0 Midwest
3
Winner North Central (IL) NCC 3-2,0-0 CCIW
Ripon RC
3-3,0-0 Midwest
0
Final
3
North Central (IL) NCC
3-2,0-0 CCIW
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Ripon RC 15 23 14 (0)
North Central (IL) NCC 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Cardinals Open MSOE Raider Invite with Two 3-0 Sweeps

Contact: Nicholas Osterloo, Director of Athletics Communication, 630-637-5324
(Written by: Taiah Gallisath, Associate Director of Athletics Communication)

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Sept. 5, 2025) - The North Central College women's volleyball team kicked off the Milwaukee School of Engineering Raider Invite with a pair of 3-0 sweeps over Benedictine University and Ripon College. The Cardinals (3-2) defeated Benedictine (1-4) in set scores of 25-23, 25-19, and 25-12, before taking down Ripon (3-3) with set scores of 25-15, 25-23, and 25-14. 

North Central traveled 100 miles to take on its Chicago Avenue neighbor, Benedictine University, in the first match of the evening, taking down the Eagles in a 3-0 sweep. 

Benedictine took an early 6-3 lead in the opening set but a pair of kills from Abby Buban and Lauren Benson and a successful block from Benson and Danni Moser leveled the score at 6-all. After trading the next several points, North Central took a two point lead at 12-10, thanks to kills from Abranet Layne, Buban, and Sarah Lezon.

A Lezon kill gave the Cardinals a 14-13 advantage and put the ball in the hands of Katie Godo who delivered back-to-back service aces to go ahead 16-13. Benedictine managed to get three more to tie it up but North Central held the Eagles off, not losing the lead for the rest of the set as the Cardinals narrowly claimed set one 25-23. 

Sarah Harvey set up three straight kills for North Central with Benson sandwiching a Moser kill for an 8-5 lead. Benedictine would bring it back within one a few more times throughout the second set but a four-point rally for the Cardinals featuring kills from Buban and Benson and another ace added to Godo's tally put North Central up 21-16. Two Eagle errors edged the Cardinals closer but it was kills from Layne and Moser that put away the second set 25-19.

Continuing that momentum into the third set, and with Harvey at the service line, North Central broke away early with a 6-0 run from the jump. Benedictine managed to get a kill down to break the run, but the Cardinals went right back at it with five more points, making it 11-1. The Eagles found their rhythm with four points of their own and continued to chip away at North Central's lead but two four-point sprees for the Cardinals sealed the 25-12 set win and 3-0 sweep over Benedictine to open the night. 

Lezon led the way with 13 kills, followed by Buban with nine and Layne with seven. Harvey was the Cardinals key distributor with 34 and Aleesa Zebold racked up 17 digs. Godo matched her career-high with four aces while Harvey totaled three. As a team, North Central posted a .206 hitting percentage compared to Benedictine's .111. 

In its second match of the day, North Central started off hot yet again, pulling ahead 6-1 while stringing together a pair of three-point runs. Utilizing assists from Benson, Harvey, and Zebold, Buban put down three-straight kills to bring the score to 11-3. 

A few points later, Benson and Harvey teamed up for back-to-back blocks to gain a 10 point advantage, 14-4. Three kills for Moser and a bad set for the Red Hawks padded North Central's lead to 18-5 before Ripon went on a five-point run to make it 21-13 still in favor of the Cardinals. With the set score at 23-15, Harvey set up Benson for the kill just before Demi Carpio knocked down a service ace for the 25-15 set victory.

The second set saw Ripon take its first lead against the Cardinals with a five-point run, 10-6. North Central battled back within one after a pair of Red Hawk errors, a kill by Lezon and an ace from Harvey to cut Ripon's lead to 13-12.

A five point run moved the Cardinals ahead 19-17 with North Central keeping its lead until Ripon found the equalizer at 23-all. Moser took matters in her own hands with a kill off an assist from Harvey and a service ace to pick up the 25-23 set two win.

Much like the second set, Ripon settled into an early advantage before North Central found its footing with a four-point run capped off with Benson and Moser connecting on a block for the 12-8 lead. The Cardinals scored four straight points with kills from Benson, Layne, and Harvey to extend the advantage to 16-9. 

Lezon sparked a five-point rally with a kill, with Moser following it up with another before Benson and Lezon notched a rejection. Buban scored the final kill to end the set 25-14 and secure the 3-0 sweep over Ripon.

The Cardinals outhit the Red Hawks 42 kills to 21, and posted a .234 hitting percentage while limiting Ripon to .040. Lezon added 13 kills to her evening's total with Moser posting nine in the second match, and Buban added eight. Harvey led the way with 31 assists with Zebold totaling 16 digs. Benson accrued five blocks with Lezon posting three and Harvey had two. Carpio and Godo each had two service aces and Zebold had one. 

North Central returns to the Kern Center tomorrow, Sept. 6 for a 12 p.m. match against Maranatha Baptist University before taking on tournament host MSOE at 2 p.m.
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