The Carthage College women’s volleyball team (7-0, 1-0 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin), ranked fourth in the Sept. 15 American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, opened its CCIW-schedule on Tuesday, Sept. 15 by sweeping North Central College (10-1, 0-1 CCIW), 3-0, at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis. Carthage’s winning set scores were 25-7, 25-20 and 25-12. North Central entered the match having won its first 10 matches of the season. For the Lady Reds, the win extended their CCIW record to 38-straight regular-season conference victories. The Lady Reds’ last conference defeat came at the hands of Augustana College (Ill.) on Oct. 3, 2003 in Rock Island, Ill.
In the opening set, Carthage jumped all over North Central, opening up an 8-0 lead that quickly went to 15-4. Leading by 12, 19-7, the Lady Reds ran off six unanswered points for the 25-7 margin. In the second set, North Central went up, 4-2, before Carthage took the lead, 6-5. Still leading, 12-7, the Lady Reds saw the Cardinals take off on a 8-2 run to take a one-point lead, 15-14. The second set was tied at 20-20 before Carthage ran off the final five points for a 25-20 decision. The third set was also close, with Carthage taking the lead to stay, 4-3. With the lead at 6-5, the Lady Reds went on an 12-1 run to open up a nine-point lead, 18-6, en route to a 13-point decision, 25-12. Carthage’s Michelle Madeja (So., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) collected 20 kills and hit .515, while setter Drewann Pancratz (So., Schaumburg, Ill.) had 32 assists.