Minneapolis, MN -- Saturday, the North Central University (NCU) volleyball team hosted the Martin Luther College (MLC) Knights in just their second Upper Midwest Athletic Conference game of the year. Last season, NCU split with the Knights, losing at home and stealing a game on the road. Today, the Rams took care of business to defeat MLC 3-1.

Set number one was an absolute battle, with the lead changing hands numerous times. With the score tied at 10-10, North Central got their outside and middle hitters rolling as setter Grace Brigson orchestrated the offense masterfully. The Rams were able to separate themselves with a 20-14 lead after a handful of service aces. MLC was unable to fight back into it and NCU took set one by a score of 25-19. The Rams totaled 15 kills and a combined .364 hitting percentage to open the game.

Martin Luther came out with a vengeance in the second set, taking the early 12-5 lead. NCU would have their poorest hitting set of the match as they committed 6 errors to aid the visitors. The Rams would be unable to catch the Knights as MLC evened the match with a 25-14 set-two victory.

In the third set, NCU cleaned up some of those costly errors and MLC would struggle mightily as they committed 11 total errors. Although Martin Luther was able to hang around in the early parts of the set, NCU took control late to win 25-18 to go up 2-1. North Central did a nice job of setting up their middle hitters with 5 total kills in set three, as Hailey Lerfald (14) and Lexie Semrau (7) feasted in the kills column all day. 

In what would end up being the final set of the match, senior captain Hailey Lerfald took over with 7 kills and 2 block assists. NCU jumped out to a dominating 8-1 lead to start, but after an MLC timeout, the Knights stormed back to bring it to within three. Martin Luther would eventually be able to tie the game at 18-all. Lerfald recorded 3 of the last 4 points for NCU to seal this one with a narrow 25-22 set win. North Central won the match 3 sets to 1. 


Looking Ahead:

NCU Volleyball will host Hamline University next Tuesday, September 17th in a non-conference affair. That match will begin at 7:00 PM from Clark Danielson Gymnasium. 

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