Minneapolis, MN -- Tonight, North Central University (NCU) volleyball continued its stretch of home contests with a game versus the University of Northwestern (UNW) Eagles. The Rams would have their hands full in this one as Northwestern came into this game ranked #4 in all of NCAA Division III and undefeated in conference play. The Eagles would prove their dominance, defeating North Central 3-0 in downtown Minneapolis. 

UNW would open up the first set 4-0, and then go on to stretch the lead to 12-3. Not much would go NCU's way in the first, as the Eagles would cruise to a 25-11 set one win. Benefiting from UNW errors to start the second set, the Rams would take the early 7-5 lead. Following the better start by the Rams, Northwestern would go on three separate 4-0 runs that would prove costly for NCU. The Eagles would take the second set 25-15. Even though they were facing a steep deficit, the Blue and Gold would refuse to back down. Set three would go back and forth with the game all tied up at 8-8. Freshman standout Sydney Carlson would help lead NCU with 3 kills early in the set. Following a few big kills from the Eagles, NCU middle hitter Catherine Johnson would tally two big kills of her own, making the score 13-10 in favor of UNW. However, Northwestern would then go on a 9-0 and inevitably put the game out of reach for the Rams. NCU's top performer was Sydney Carlson with 7 kills and 2 blocks on the evening. North Central would end up losing 3-0 to Northwestern. 

Box score can be found here.

Looking Ahead:

The Rams will continue their stretch of home games as they match up with the Martin Luther College Knights next Friday at 7:00 p.m.

All fans are encouraged to tune into the official Rams Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter pages for updates on Rams Volleyball and all things NCU Athletics.