CLAREMONT, Calif. (Sept. 5, 2026) — The North Central College women's volleyball team closed out the Pacific Coast Classic Saturday with a split of its two matches at Roberts Pavilion, holding off Whittier College in four sets before falling to host No. 23 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the finale.
The Cardinals opened the day with a 27-25, 25-14, 22-25, 25-22 victory over the Whittier Poets, taking control early in the second set and answering late in the fourth to secure their third win of the season.
North Central set the tone behind
Katie Godo's serving run, as the Cardinals scored the first four points of the opening set. Godo delivered back-to-back service aces, and
Lauren Benson followed with a kill to build the early cushion. Whittier rallied back in a set that featured 14 ties and four lead changes, but the Cardinals answered the pressure late. After the Poets pulled even at 25-25,
Abby Buban put North Central in front with a kill before
Sarah Harvey finished the set with a service ace.
The Cardinals were at their sharpest in the second set, hitting .333 while limiting Whittier to a .154 attack percentage. Godo again helped North Central build momentum from the service line, and the Cardinals used a decisive mid-set stretch to pull away. Benson and
Ava Hoff powered the attack during the surge, while Harvey continued to distribute the offense efficiently on the way to a 25-14 win.
Whittier extended the match by taking a back-and-forth third set, 25-22, after the teams traded 18 ties and 10 lead changes. North Central drew even at 22-22 on a Benson service ace, but the Poets scored the final three points to force a fourth set.
The Cardinals responded with another strong start in the fourth, jumping ahead 8-2 after kills by Benson and Harvey. The Poets trimmed the margin late, but Buban recorded several key swings down the stretch, Hoff added a late kill to bring the Cardinals to set point, and another Hoff kill sealed the match.
North Central closed the Pacific Coast Classic against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, falling to the No. 23 Athenas by scores of 25-17, 25-16 and 25-12. The Cardinals showed flashes early, taking a 2-0 lead in the first set on an
Abby Buban kill from
Sarah Harvey and later moving ahead 5-3 on a Harvey service ace. North Central opened even stronger in the second, as Benson delivered back-to-back kills from Harvey to spark an 8-2 start, but the Athenas hit .309 for the match and used extended scoring runs to pull away.
Buban and Hoff led North Central with seven kills apiece in the finale, while Benson added five kills and three blocks. Harvey finished with 20 assists and five digs, and Buban paced the back row with eight digs.
Benson turned in the Cardinals' most efficient offensive performance in the win over Whittier, putting down 14 kills with just one error for a .542 hitting percentage, while Hoff added a 15-kill, 11-dig double-double.
For the day, Hoff led the Cardinals with 22 kills and 17 digs, while Benson totaled 19 kills and hit .422 over the two matches. Buban added 21 kills and 15 digs, Harvey finished with 66 assists, 16 digs and three service aces, and Godo totaled 17 digs and three aces.
Demi Carpio led the Cardinals defensively with 21 digs on the day, including a team-high 15 in the win over Whittier. The Cardinals moved to 3-2 on the season and return to action Tuesday, Sept. 8, traveling to Aurora University for a 7 p.m. match.
