Minneapolis, MN -- North Central University (NCU) Volleyball was busy today as they faced the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) Cougars at home, then made the trip to Eagles territory as they battled the #22 ranked University of Northwestern (UNW). Within these two final games of the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) regular season, the Rams were looking to finish the season with momentum heading into the postseason. In game one against the Cougars, North Central would take set three, but errors would prove costly as the Cougars went on to win 3-1. In their second contest of the day, the Rams could not slow down the Eagles' attack as they lost in three sets. 

Game One Recap:

Set one started out in North Central's favor at 5-1 with a kill by Sydney Carlson and service ace from Maci Tripp. The attack errors began to rack up for the Rams as the Cougars roared back to take the lead at 10-8. In a swing of momentum, UMM began committing costly errors that fueled a 9-3 run that put the Rams up 17-13. Momentum shifted one more as Morris found their footing and went on a 12-3 run to close out set one at 25-20. Set two was all Cougars early as the visitors opened a 6-0 lead. Middle hitters Hailey Lerfald and Lexie Semrau did their best to keep the Rams in it, but the UMM attack was too much as they went up 2-0 with a 25-11 set win. Set three was back-and-forth in the early going, with the Cougars holding the narrow lead at 5-4. Then NCU ripped off a 12 -1 run to take a commanding 16-6 advantage. NCU posted a phenomenal .526 hitting percentage in the set. Hailey Lerfald led the Rams to a 25-15 win off 4 kills to extend the game to a fourth set. MN-Morris rattled off 3 straight service aces early in the fourth to take a 7-3 lead. After trading points through most of the first half of the set, the Cougars eventually started putting rallies together and pulled away to a 25-15 win. UM-Morris took this game by a final of three sets to one. Hailey Lerfald finished with a team-high 11 kills and 4 blocks. 

Game Two Recap: 

UNW jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first set of action. North Central saw signs of hope as Sydney Carlson had some powerful kills off the left side. Unfortunately, the Eagles' attack was too crisp with 18 kills and just 1 error as they cruised to a 25-12 set one victory. NCU battled early in the second, receiving big kills from seniors Hailey Lerfald and Katie Martin. Junior Nana Lopez came alive with two kills to provide the Rams with some much-needed offense. The Eagles closed out the set on a 13-3 run to put the Rams away at 25-17. Sloppier play by Northwestern early in the third allowed NCU to stay right there with the #22 ranked team in the country. However, four straight attack errors by the Rams gave all momentum to the Eagles. Sophomore Sydney Carlson led the way for the Rams with 10 kills. Junior Maci Tripp totaled 16 digs on the evening. North Central lost set three 25-25 and the game 3-0 to UNW. 

Looking Ahead:

North Central heads into postseason play as the #4 seed in this year's UMAC Volleyball Playoffs. The Rams will return to the Ericksen Center Gymnasium for a semifinal rematch with the #1 seeded UNW Eagles. That match is scheduled for Wednesday, November 13th. Game time is TBD. 

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