NAPERVILLE, Ill. — The No. 4 Carthage College men's volleyball team suffered a setback falling to North Central (Ill.) 3-0 on Saturday afternoon.
- Final score: North Central 3 - Carthage 0
- Location: Naperville, Illinois - Gregory Arena
- Records:T#10 North Central (Ill.) 13-3 (4-0 CCIW), No. 4 Carthage 12-4 (4-1 CCIW)
- The Cardinals controlled a 7-3 margin early in the first set off back-to-back kills.
- Later, a kill from Kyle Radecki and two attack errors for the home team cut the lead to 15-13.
- An ace from Gene McNulty narrowed the gap to 23-20, but North Central (Ill.) ended up winning the set 25-21.
- Kills from Drew Jansen and David Markes tied it at 14 in the second.
- A kill from Carter Schmidt and a combined block from the duo of Zach Bulthuis and Schmidt saw the Firebirds draw within two.
- A service error gave the Cardinals a two-set lead, 25-22.
- With momentum on their side, the home team went ahead 14-8 with a block.
- Two straight kills from Jansen cut the Cardinal deficit to four.
- Though Carthage used a late push sparked by blocks from Janen and Bulthuis, North Central (Ill.) won the set 25-18.
"Really scrappy match by North Central today. They looked and played like a team on a mission, and we never stepped up to that challenge.
I was really happy with the way
Justin Girodat served and defended off the bench. He brought some energy that we needed.
Drew Jansen was really good for us offensively as well. He had some really big kills for us throughout the match that helped as well.
Ryan Cholewinski also gave us a spark in the third set with his offense.
We were not ready for the pressure and energy North Central played with today. We need to be ready for everyone's best, and we weren't today."
- Carthage stays on the road traveling to Augustana (Ill.) on Wednesday, March 15, at 7 p.m.
