MANKATO, Minn. -- North Central University (NCU) volleyball recorded history in the making on Saturday night. In their final contest of the 2021 spring season, the Rams put up their third sweep in a row by besting the Bethany Lutheran College (BLC) Vikings in the UMAC consolation championship three sets to zero (25-21, 25-22, 25-20). This officially locks North Central in as the number 5 seed in the final UMAC standings, the highest place finish in the program's history since North Central joined the conference in 2009.

Game Recap

North Central came out in set one firing on all cylinders from an offensive standpoint. After taking advantage of a few Viking errors, Emily DiGiorgio (Ironwood, MI, Luther L. Wright High School) got the night going with a few kills through the first 15 rallies to put the Rams up nine to five. From that point on, the Rams scored 10 of the next 12 points to give themselves a commanding lead 19 to seven. After the surge, the Vikings responded with a similar run of their own, but NCU managed to edge them out down the stretch 25 to 21.

Set two showcased an extremely hot start by Bethany Lutheran to put themselves up six to zero early on. After trailing for the first half of the set, back-to-back kills by Makayla Krohnberg (Blaine, MN, Blaine High School) tied the game up at 15 apiece. Despite BLC jumping out to the early lead, the Rams flipped a switch and got momentum back on their side when it counted in the final few rallies of the set. After trading points back-and-forth, North Central squeaked out a victory in set two 25 to 22.

The third and final set of the season was a battle early on that consisted of six lead changes. A collection of power hitting at the net by Jaselyn Anderson (Farmington, MN, Christian Life Academy), Bria Reiser (Berlin, WI, Berlin High School), and Hannah Fischer (Kenyon, MN, Kenyon Wanamingo High School) sparked what would turn into NCU final capture of the lead at the 10 to 7 mark. For the majority of the set the Rams maintained a narrow lead over the Vikings until the last four points, where they put together one last surge to secure the set 25 to 20. This gave them the sweep and sole possession of the UMAC consolation championship.

Key Performers

• Junior Emily DiGiorgio led the charge offensively for the Rams, recording 14 kills on an efficient .435 hitting clip.
• Karlee Martinez (Woodbury, MN, St. Croix Central High School) dished out 20 assists to hitters all along the net, which proved instrumental to NCU's offensive explosion tonight.
• Senior captain Alejandra Llerena- Correa (Columbia Heights, MN, Columbia Heights High School) put together two service aces in her final match in a Rams uniform.

Looking Back

Despite a slow start for the Rams volleyball team during their shortened 2021 spring campaign, the team reached historical achievements in head coach Faith Ooms' fourth year. In addition to finishing a program-high fifth place in the conference on a 6-9 overall record, NCU ended the season with three straight sweeps of #9 Crown, #5 Northland, and #6 Bethany Lutheran in the UMAC consolation tournament. The continuous improvement over the past two years underneath Ooms has been incredibly telling for the future of North Central volleyball and what it is set to achieve next season, as the entire core starting lineup set to return to the rotation for the Rams.