CHICAGO, Ill. -- The No. 1 seeded and 15th-ranked North Park University women's volleyball team took down the Illinois Wesleyan Titans in four sets (25-19, 25-18, 20-25, 25-22) in the semifinal match of the CCIW tournament on Thursday night. North Park will now face No. 3 seed Carthage on Saturday night for the championship match.
The Vikings cruised through the first set, winning it 25-19. North Park was able to hold Wesleyan to a miniscule -.075 attacking percentage in this set, while holding a 0.216 of their own. North Park zeroed in on the Titans' top attacker, Taylor French, who only managed a .100 hitting percentage in the opener. North Park juniors Adriana Rodriguez and Shamyia Collier paced the Vikings with five kills each.
The second set followed the same story as the first. The Vikings won 25-18 while posting a 0.256 attacking percentage and holding the Titans to .051. This set included four of the Vikings' five aces on the night off serves from Meg Rothermel, Carolina Aviles, Jenna Jones, and Christina Gatta.
The third set was a grueling back and forth in which the Titans were able to come out on top with a score of 25-20. The Titans had three blocks in the set while French boasted four kills.
In the fourth and final set, North Park showcased a 15-3 run thanks to a seven-point streak while Aviles served. Although the Titans battled back, they were no match for North Park, who inevitably finished them off with a final score of 25-22.
Simeona-French had nine kills alongside a .346 hitting percentage tonight
Quick Hits:
- Rodriguez leads the night with 21 kills, a season high for her
- Collier and Kharlie Simeona-French followed with 12 and 9
- Rhianna Huebner with a pair of blocks while Gata had 43 assists in the four-setter
- Pair of aces for Jones
Historical Notes
- NPU's 57 kills this evening is tied for seventh-best all-time in four-set matches.
- Rodriguez moves into third place all-time in career kills (1,371), trailing only Shelby Switzer and Lauren Wiltsie.
- Gatta's ace this evening gives her 78 for the season, setting a new NPU season aces record. She set the old one at 77 as a freshman in 2019.
- Speaking of aces, Aviles's two aces tonight gives her an even 100 for her career, tying her for tenth place all-time with Natalie Darcy (2004-07).
- Now that she has 1,000-plus digs for her career, Aviles also qualifies for the career digs-per-set category. She debuts at 4.40 dps for her career, good for third all-time.
What's Next?
The Vikings (24-6) will host No. 3 seed Carthage, who upturned No. 2 seed Millikin earlier this evening, inside the NPU Gym on Saturday, Nov. 11. First serve is set for 7:00 PM.
