Minneapolis, MN -- Friday, North Central University (NCU) Volleyball hosted their annual Minneapolis Invite Tournament in Clark Danielson Gymnasium. This year's tournament featured the Trinity Bible College (TBC) Lions from Ellendale, North Dakota, and the Faith Baptist Bible College (FBBC) Eagles from Ankeny, Iowa. In game one of the afternoon, the Rams defeated the Lions in 3 sets. In game two, Faith Baptist took on Trinity Bible and would go on to win 3-0. The final game of the evening was between NCU and FBBC, as the Rams were able to sweep the Eagles in dominating fashion.
Game One Recap:
Game one would go back and forth early, as both teams struggled to play clean volleyball. The Rams got on a roll and rattled off seven straight points to open the first set up at 14-5. NCU rode that momentum to a 25-11 set one victory. Freshman Ari Klein led the Rams with 4 kills in the first set and ended up with 6 in the match. NCU dominated the second, jumping out to a 10-3 lead. Senior Hailey Lerfald led the team in the second with 4 kills and 9 in the match. The third and final set was a battle to start as the Rams took the initial 10-5 lead but the Lions were aided by 3 NCU errors to go on a 5-point run to tie knot things up at 10-10. Strong play from setter Grace Brigson allowed the Rams to regain their lead. The senior racked up 12 set assists and 2 service aces in the final set and finished with 25 assists and 3 aces. North Central totaled 11 service aces to just 1 by Trinity Bible. The Rams went on to sweep the Lions in three sets.
Game Two Recap:
North Central found more offensive rhythm in their second match of the day against the Eagles. Although they gave up the first two points of the set, NCU regained the lead and stayed out in front throughout. The Rams won set one 25-17 to go up 1-0 in the match. Outside hitters, Sydney Carlson and Nana Lopez heated up in the second set with 9 combined kills to lead the Rams. NCU displayed disciplined defense as they limited Faith Baptist to just 1 kill in the entire set. North Central won the second set 25-14 and took all the momentum into what would be the last set. The Eagles put up a better fight early in the third set, as the game was tied at 6-6. However, FBBC would commit too many costly errors and find themselves trailing 22-11 before they knew it. Senior captain Hailey Lerfald finished with 13 kills and 2 blocks. Grace Brigson finished with 36 assists to lead all Rams and Sydney Carlson played a well-rounded match with 13 kills and 15 digs. NCU won 3-0 and has yet to lose a set all season.
Looking Ahead:
North Central will travel to Northfield, MN, to take on Carleton College in a non-conference matchup next Wednesday, September 11th at 7:00pm!
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.
