MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The North Central University (NCU) volleyball team hosted the Crown College (CC) Storm on Monday night in Clark-Danielson Gymnasium. In front of their largest home crowd of the season, the Rams took down the Storm in sweeping fashion (25-11, 25-14, and 25 -23). North Central volleyball has now advanced to the next round of the consolation bracket in the UMAC postseason tournament.

Game Recap

North Central opened the game on a tear, willing themselves into taking a strong and commanding lead over Crown early on. Bria Reiser (Berlin, WI, Berlin High School) was fed the ball along the net continuously in the first set of the match, recording single-set career-high of eight kills. The momentum never seemed to stop, as the Rams went on multiple four-point runs while also taking advantage of several errors committed by the Storm. The Rams' offense was as explosive as it had been all season, fueling their way to an 25 to 11 first set victory.

Despite the momentum earned in the first set, the Storm willed their way back into the match at the beginning of the second set, Through the first ten rallies, the score was knotted up five all. Shortly after and similar to the first set, the Rams' offense started becoming too much for CC to handle. Setter Karlee Martinez (Woodbury, MN, St. Croix Central High School) provided NCU's hitters with plenty of opportunities to make their mark on Crown's back row, as the Rams recorded double the amount of assists during the set. With the offense firing on all cylinders, NCU cruised their way to taking the second set 25 to 14.

The third set was a back-and-forth battle all the way through. With several changes of the lead recorded throughout, the Rams responded well to the sudden Crown offensive explosions when they needed to. Halfway through the set with the score in favor of the Storm 14 to 11, head coach Faith Ooms called a timeout, which proved to be instrumental in the Rams getting back in control of the game. Over the preceding rallies, the Rams were back out in front 19 to 16 from multiple kills by Emily DiGiorgio (Ironwood, MI, Luther L. Wright High School). Down the final stretch of the set, the Rams' defense remained strong and refused to let the Storm back into it. This fueled the Rams to edging the Storm in the third and final set of the night 25 to 23.

Key Performers

• Bria Reiser was a force at the net the entire night. The sophomore middle blocker recorded 16 kills on an astounding and career-high .552 hitting percentage.
• Libero Hallie Fuglestad (Maple Grove, MN, Maple Grove Senior High School) led the back row for the Rams by coming away with 19 digs and keeping the Crown attack off balance. Fuglestad also chipped in an ace at the service line as well.
• Karlee Martinez put up 20 assists, the best performance yet for the freshman's young career.

Looking Ahead

NCU volleyball will now advance to the next round in the consolation bracket of the UMAC postseason tournament. This Thursday the Rams will travel to Ashland, Wisconsin to take on the fifth seeded Northland College Lumberjills in their final match of the 2021 spring season. First service is schedule for 7:00 p.m. To view Northland's COVID-19 policy on fan attendance for the upcoming game, please click here. Fans are encouraged to stay posted to official Rams social media (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) for game information on the upcoming game, such as live video and statistics.