Contact: Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@noctrl.edu
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Feb. 17, 2026) – The North Central College men's volleyball program honored Henry Blackmore before its match on Tuesday against No. 13 Aurora University inside Gregory Arena. Blackmore, a member of the program, passed away unexpectedly nine days ago at the age of 18. The Cardinals held a moment of silence in Blackmore's honor and recognized the passion and love he had for the game of volleyball, which he shared with members of both the men's and women's volleyball programs, as he had developed friendships with student-athletes on both teams.
The team wore black warm-up shirts that sported his name and number on the back, as well as one of his go-to catch phrases on the front, "What's up, chat?"
North Central fell in the match to Aurora 3-1.
The lone victory on the night for the Cardinals came in the opening game of the contest. North Central (6-5) and Aurora traded points through the first third of the set, until the Spartans built up an 11-8 lead after a Cardinal attack error. Jeffrey McEachern Jr. sent a ball careening off the gym floor a handful of rallies later to tie the set at 13, and Brannen Almarales hammered home a kill on the next rally to give the Cardinals a 14-13 advantage.
Aurora (7-3) got to within one (17-16), but a monster finish from Mitchell Hester extended the Cardinal edge to two.
The Spartans clawed back to tie the set at 19 on a block by Solomon Dail and Connor Carroll, but the Cardinals responded with another Almarales kill to retake the lead.
Aurora did not go quietly, coming back once again in the set to tie it at 22, and even taking the lead at 23-22 after a solo rejection by Ammar Brzovic, but North Central stayed steady at the wheel, as PJ Vaughan dished out assists on two of the final three rallies to lead his squad to a 25-23 set win.
McEachern had six kills in the first set alone. He finished the night with seven kills and nine digs. The Cardinals hit .250 in the opening game, their highest mark in a set over the course of the match.
The second set remained competitive, as the Spartans took the game by the same score as the first set, 25-23.
North Central built up a five-point lead (13-8) after three consecutive errors from the Spartans, but after a timeout, Aurora got back to form, going on a 4-0 run to get within one at 13-12, going on to tie it at 14 three rallies later.
The two squads remained even later in the set at 19-19, with North Central taking advantage of Aurora miscues to counteract its .042 hitting percentage in the set.
Aurora jumped out to a 21-19 lead after a block and never looked back, going on to win the set 25-23.
The Spartans claimed the third set 25-19 after jumping out to an early 15-10 lead. That advantage eventually expanded to 20-14, and eventually to the final tally of 25-19. The Spartans hit .316 in the third set, compared to North Central's .172 mark.
The fourth set started as competitively as the first three, with the two teams playing to a 10-10 tie. Aurora quickly flipped the script, however, finishing the set on a 16-7 run to win the set 25-17, and the match 3-1.
Aurora was led by SJ Nelson and his 20 kills. Luke Dwyer led the Spartans in assists with 30, while AJ Vescova contributed 19. The Spartans blocked nine Cardinal swings on the night, five of which Solomon Dail contributed to.
Almarales tied for tenth on the single-match digs record sheet, accruing 16 in the contest. That mark ties for the third most in a four-set match in program history. His 16 digs were part of his fifth double-double of the season, as he put home 10 of his 27 swings.
Elijah Landeros was the kills leader for the Cardinals, earning 11, while PJ Vaughan contributed 35 assists and a pair of blocks. Hester and Connor Davis hit at high percentages from the middle of the floor, as Hester hit .375 (four kills on eight swings, one error) and Davis hit an even .500 (three kills on six swings). Hester also pitched in on a pair of blocks.
The Cardinals will turn their attention to the conference season, which begins this Friday against Augustana College at 7 p.m. in Rock Island.
