Mankato, MN -- This Friday, North Central University (NCU) Volleyball hit the road for another Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) contest as they faced the Bethany Lutheran College (BLC) Vikings for the first time this season. Last year, BLC was victorious in both meetings as NCU could only manage one set win. Tonight, the Rams found a rhythm early and carried that momentum through to the end as they swept the Vikings 3-0. In the Rams' fifth straight win tonight, senior Katie Martin surpassed 500 career digs from her defensive specialist position.
North Central racked up 15 total kills in set one to start the night strong. The Rams also performed well from the service line as they had 5 service aces compared to just 2 by the Vikings. The teams went back and forth early on in the set, but NCU would turn it up late to pull away from the Vikings to win 25-20. North Central was led in kills by Hailey Lerfald (5) and Sydney Carlson (4).
The Rams were able to carry their momentum into the second set as they started out with a 5-0 lead. However, Bethany Lutheran battled back to take a 10-8 lead. From here, the Rams went on a 9-3 run to regain their momentum as Sydney Carlson dominated on the outside with 6 more kills to add to her total. To close out the set, Grace Brigson found Hailey Lerfald in the middle to give her team the 25-23 set win and a 2-0 match lead.
In the third set, North Central would only tally 7 kills, but Bethany Lutheran committed 11 costly errors leading to NCU points. The Rams commanded the net defensively with 4 blocks in the final set, including two blocks that middle Lexie Semrau and outside Ari Klein teamed up to deny the Vikings. An emphatic block by Hailey Lerfald and Ari Klein sealed the deal for NCU with a 25-21 final set. Senior Katie Martin passed the 500 career dig mark in her 30th match played.
Looking Ahead:
Up next, NCU Volleyball will play tomorrow against Martin Luther College in New Ulm starting at 1:00 PM.
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.
