Minneapolis-- The North Central University Volleyball team celebrated Parents Day on Friday night at Clark-Danielson Gymnasium with games against The University of Northwestern (Saint Paul, Minn.) and Finlandia University (Hancock, Mich.).

The Rams (5-12, 0-3 UMAC) opened the night against their conference rivals from Northwestern (12-7, 2-0 UMAC), and lost the match 3-0 (5-25, 13-25, 17-25).

North Central had no answer for the offensive attack of Northwestern, as the Eagles recorded a hitting percentage of .534. The Rams struggled to keep up with the conference favorites, as North Central hit .067 percent as they posted 20 kills and 14 errors on 89 total attacks.

NCU was led by sophomore Ashley Kelzer (Mayer, Minn./Watertown-Mayer) who led the Rams with six kills and one block assist. Junior Karlee Huber (Rapid City, S.D./Dakota Wesleyan Univ.) was second on the team with five kills and a team-high ten digs.

The Rams (6-12, 0-3) rebounded nicely in the second match of the day as they took on the Lions of Finlandia (7-14). North Central prevailed 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-13) as they wore down Finlandia throughout the match with a hitting percentage of .186 (27 kills, 11 errors, 86 total attacks). The offensive attack of NCU was their second best performance of the season (.187 against Faith on Sept. 10).

The attack was anchored by junior Elissa Pheneger (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy), who recorded a game-high 24 assists in the victory. Pheneger also ranked second on the team with ten digs.

Huber led the Rams with ten kills in the match, as she had only one error and a hitting percentage of .375; her top offensive performance of the season. Kelzer had another strong performance as she posted six kills in the win.

Junior Katie Strand (Kenyon, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo) solidified the Rams attack with five kills and back-to-back service aces to end the second set.

With their sixth win of the season, North Central is one win shy of their win total from 2014.

The Rams first chance to tie that mark will come on Wednesday, October 6th as they host the Knights of Martin Luther College (New Ulm, Minn.) in Minneapolis. Tip-off begins at 7 p.m.

If you cannot make it to the gym this Wednesday, follow the game with live video and stats at ncurams.com.