Contact: Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@noctrl.edu
NOTE: This story will be updated as more information becomes available. Last updated March 19, 2026, at 9:55 a.m.
KENOSHA, Wis. (March 18, 2026) – The North Central College men's volleyball program traveled North Wednesday night to take on the top team in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) and the nation, Carthage College. The Cardinals gave the No. 1 Firebirds everything they could handle, but came up just short of extinguishing their flame, falling in a five-set thriller.
Carthage (17-2, 6-0 CCIW), which has now won four of the last five matches in the series, extended its lead in the CCIW to a full game over second-place Illinois Wesleyan with the win. The Cardinals now stand 2.5 matches back of the second-place Titans.
North Central (9-8, 3-3) started the heavyweight bout by landing an early blow, taking the first set 25-19. The two squads could not gain any separation until late in the set, when a pair of attack errors from the Firebirds gave the Cardinals their biggest lead of the set, 18-14. The Firebirds responded with a 3-0 run to make the score 18-17, but a block by Chris Mactal and BK Bartlett stretched the lead to four (21-17).
The Cardinals finished the set on a 7-2 run, with Brannen Almarales securing two of the final three kills with hard swings, including the winning point, which was set up by a solid set from Angelo Delgado, who finished with 40 assists in the matchup.
The Cardinals hit at a .500 clip in the opening set, a season high for a single set.
The second set saw the Firebirds even the match, using multiple short runs to build an insurmountable advantage over the Cardinals, winning 25-21. Carthage gained its first bit of separation in the middle of the set, utilizing a 4-0 run propelled by a pair of service aces to gain a 13-10 advantage. The Firebirds would not relinquish the lead again, going on a 9-3 run to extend their lead to 22-15.
The Cardinals did come storming back with a 4-0 run that saw an ace from Delgado and back-to-back kills from Almarales to make it 22-19, but the Firebirds fought through the adversity, winning the set 25-21 despite North Central outscoring them 6-3 over the final nine rallies of the set.
The third set was a dominant showing from the top team in Division III. The Firebirds jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and never looked back, coasting to a 25-17 win to take the lead in the match 2-1.
North Central clawed its way back into it, rebounding from its consecutive losses to grind out a 25-23 win in the fourth set. Carthage held a 15-12 lead, and looked poised to finished off the match, but coach Kevin Kustura's men rallied, rattling off a 9-1 run to flip the set on its head 21-16. During the run, Mitchell Hester collected three kills while Jeffrey McEachern Jr. contributed a pair and Almarales went on a six-rally streak at the service line.
 The Firebirds tried to claw back, getting the set to within one on two different occasions (23-22, 24-23), but an Almarales kill off of a rare assist from McEachern clinched the set at 25-23 and set the match to a decisive fifth set.
Carthage took an early lead, leading 8-4 when the teams switched sides, and eventually extending the margin to 9-4 on the next rally. North Central responded with a 5-0 run to tie the match at nine, helped along by three Firebird errors and kills by McEachern and Almarales.
The Firebirds retook the lead 12-9 three rallies later and pulled away late to win the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.
Almarales collected his ninth double-double of the season, leading the team in kills with 19 and coming third in digs with 11. McEachern joined him in the double-double club, hitting at a .300 clip while accruing 14 kills and 13 assists. Hester led the squad in hitting percentage to the tune of a .467 mark, collecting eight kills over his 15 swings.
Jonathan Brown led the match in digs with 16, tying for the 10th most digs in a five-set match in program history. Joining him on the defensive effort were Mactal and Bartlett, both of whom contributed to three blocks each.
The Cardinals hit a .276 mark while logging 49 kills, five blocks, 44 assists and 55 digs as a team in the losing effort.
North Central continues its conference push on Saturday in Chicago at 3 p.m. against North Park.
NOTE: This story will be updated as more information becomes available. Last updated March 19, 2026, at 9:55 a.m.
