Contact: Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@noctrl.edu

KENOSHA, Wis. (April 8, 2026) – The North Central men's volleyball program took on No. 3 Carthage College in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Tournament semifinals on Wednesday night, falling in three sets to the top-seeded Firebirds.

The Cardinals hit at a .247 mark in the match, accruing three blocks and 24 kills across the match's three sets.

Carthage (21-3) jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the opening set. The Cardinals responded with a 4-1 run of their own, tying the set at five. North Central (10-13) used a BK Bartlett kill and a trio of Carthage attack errors to even the score.

The 4-1 run grew into a 9-3 run, as kills on consecutive rallies by Brannen Almarales and Chris Mactal gave North Central a 10-7 advantage.

The Firebirds rallied to tie the match at 11. Carthage eventually took a 15-14 advantage that was nullified by an explosive kill by Connor Davis that landed inside the 10-foot line, which was followed up by a masterful touch from Almarales to deflect the ball off a pair of would-be Carthage blockers to give North Central a 16-15 lead. A Chris Mactal solo rejection on the ensuing point grew the lead to two (17-15).

The Firebirds responded with a 9-3 run to take a 24-20 lead before going on to win the set 25-22.

Despite dropping the set, North Central hit at a .360 clip.

Carthage opened the second set much like it did the first, getting out to a 5-1 lead, forcing North Central to burn an early timeout. The Cardinals were unable to stop the bleeding, however, as Carthage extended its advantage to 12-4 after a Cardinal service error.

The Firebirds' hot streak did not end there, as they went on to build a 20-6 lead. A 4-0 run from the Cardinals, fueled by an Elijah Landeros ace, brought them back to within 10 (20-10), but Carthage went on to win the set 25-12 to take a 2-0 match lead.

Coach Kevin Kustura's squad found some momentum to start the third set, jumping out to a 4-1 lead after an Almarales kill and a trio of errors by the host school.

The Cardinals extended their lead to 6-2 after Almarales and Davis skied for a block before pulling their arms back, faking out the Carthage attacker and inducing an error out of bounds as he tried to deflect his attack off of the non-existent block. A kill by Bartlett and another Carthage error allowed the lead to grow to 8-3.

Carthage rallied back with a 7-2 run to tie the set at 10. Carthage took the lead 11-10, but consecutive kills from Jeffrey McEachern Jr. and Bartlett gave North Central a 12-11 edge.

The teams traded leads and points, with neither program able to gain more than a one-point lead until an attack error by Carthage and an Almarales finish off a Firebird block gave the Cardinals a 19-17 lead.

After Carthage battled to tie it at 19, Mactal sent a fireball careening off a Firebird to give the Cardinals a 20-19 lead.

Carthage responded yet again with a run, this one of the 5-0 variety, to give itself match point at 24-20.

McEachern hammered home a kill off of a feed from Angelo Delgado to stop the run (24-21), but Carthage buried the ball on the ensuing run, winning the set 25-21, and the match 3-0.

Almarales came one dig short of his 10th double-double in the final match of the season, finishing the night with 14 kills and nine digs. McEachern logged three kills and six digs, while Jonathan Brown accrued nine digs. Bartlett finished the evening with three kills, a block and a team-leading 10 digs, while Delgado contributed 19 assists and five digs to the effort. 

Brown solidified the best single-season in terms of digs in program history, finishing the year with 270 digs. Almarales finishes with the second-most kills in a season in program history with 335.

Mactal finished the year with 63 blocks, ranking him fifth on the single-season blocks list. Delgado racked up 493 assists in his freshman campaign, the tenth most in a season in program history.

With the win, Carthage advances to face No. 16 Illinois Wesleyan University in the championship match on Saturday in Kenosha.

The loss marks the third straight season for the Cardinals that their year has ended in the CCIW tournament semifinals.