Facing one of its stiffest challenges of the season, North Park stared down Carthage and gave it all it had in an enthusiastic match Wednesday night.

Although the Vikings fell in three sets, there surely wasn't any shortage of grit as NP nearly overcame a set point five-point deficit in the first game.

After falling behind at 24-19 in Game 1, the hosts took advantage of two Lady Reds hitting errors and utilized three kills from freshman Lauren Wiltsie to tie the set at 24-24. NP opened the game just as strong as it staked a 3-0 lead on a kill from Emily Farwell and two Carthage hitting errors. The Vikings then made it a 5-1 advantage on a Hayley Brake service ace, but Carthage worked its way back into it to close within 8-7. A kill from Delanie Kwiecinski and Brake pushed the hosts lead back to 11-9 before Carthage used a 15-8 scoring run to close to set point.

Wiltsie finished with 11 kills and eight digs, while Darby Switzer dished out 19 assists. Junior Karen Rosales added 14 digs and Brake tallied nine kills.

North Park (9-14, 0-5) returns to action Friday when it hosts non-conference opponent Maranatha Baptist College at 7 p.m.