MINNEAPOLIS – In its first Upper Midwest Athletic Conference match of the season, North Central volleyball took down rival Crown College Friday night by a final score of 3-1 (25-17, 26-28, 25-22, 28-26).

The Rams (2-7) hosted the Storm (0-9) to kick off the 2016 UMAC preview, a tournament featuring the sixth through ninth place teams from last year's conference standings. As the sixth seed, NCU was selected to host the other teams, which include Bethany Lutheran College (#7), Northland College (#8) and Crown (#9).

The opening match against the Storm was North Central's fifth match in a row at Clark-Danielson Gymnasium, and the home court advantage aided the Rams as they jumped out to an early lead in set one and won by their largest margin of the night. Despite a 23-16 lead in the second, the Rams struggled to close out the set, and Crown went on a 12-3 to even the match at 1-1.

Set three was another back and forth contest, with North Central recording its highest attack percentage of the night (.190) to take a 2-1 match lead. Set four appeared to be all Crown, as the Storm led by as many as four late in the frame, but a big North Central run took the set to extra points and the Rams finished the match on a Crown error.

North Central were led by freshman Emma Middendorf (Glenwood, Minn./Minnewaska Area) with a career-high 16 kills (.286). Karlee Huber (Rapid City, S.D./Stevens) added 9 kills and 12 digs, while fellow senior Elissa Pheneger put up 28 assists, inching her closer to NCU's all-time record.

The Rams (3-7) are back in action tomorrow as the 2016 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference season preview tournament continues. NCU hosts Bethany Lutheran at 11:00 a.m. and Northland at 3:00 p.m.