Carthage College Athletics

(RV) Carthage 3, North Central (Ill.) 0
KENOSHA, Wis. - The Carthage women's volleyball team earned a 25-19, 25-14, 25-19 sweep of North Central (Ill.) on Wednesday night at Tarble Arena. The Firebirds improved to 14-5 overall and 3-0 in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin play with the victory.



Set 1: Carthage opened the match with a 25-19 victory after building an early 5-0 advantage. North Central answered with a 3-0 run to pull within 5-3, and the Cardinals eventually tied the set at 13-13. The Firebirds responded by scoring five of the next six points to take an 18-14 lead before extending the advantage to 21-15 behind consecutive service aces from Elise Webster. Carthage reached set point at 24-18, and Kristina Manojlovic closed out the set with a kill for the 25-19 win.

Set 2: The Firebirds jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second set and maintained control throughout the frame. North Central pulled within 6-2, but Carthage answered with a pair of points to take an 8-2 advantage. The Cardinals later cut the deficit to 12-8, but the Firebirds held their distance and built the lead to 18-10 with a 6-2 run. Carthage continued to pull away and reached set point at 24-14 before an attack error by North Central gave the Firebirds a 25-14 victory and a 2-0 match lead.

Set 3: Carthage completed the sweep with a 25-19 third-set victory. The Firebirds scored the first three points and later held a 13-7 advantage after a kill by Hailey Wierzgac. North Central pulled within 16-13, but Carthage answered with a 4-0 run to take a 20-13 lead. The Cardinals trimmed the deficit to 23-19, but Manojlovic and Wierzgac finished the sweep with a pair of kills to give Carthage the 25-19 victory.



Carthage (14-5, 3-0 CCIW) hit .376 as a team and finished with 43 kills, eight service aces and eight total blocks. North Central (7-6, 1-2 CCIW) hit .180 and recorded 33 kills, two aces and three blocks.

Manojlovic led the Firebirds with 11 kills, nine digs and four total blocks. Wierzgac added eight kills while hitting .462, along with three blocks, while Macy Wente recorded seven kills without an error and hit .467. Ava Dettwiler finished with 21 assists, six kills on a .417 hitting percentage, 12 digs and one service ace. Della Walsh added 16 assists, two service aces and two digs, while Elise Webster recorded three aces and Mina Reichert registered 10 digs.







Carthage women's volleyball returns to action Friday, Oct. 9, when the Firebirds travel to Whitewater, Wis., to face UW-Whitewater at 7 p.m. Both teams received votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Rankings. The Firebirds return to Tarble Arena on Oct. 28 to host Millikin University at 7 p.m. For more information, visit athletics.carthage.edu.