ELMHURST, Ill. - Elmhurst volleyball came up just short in its conference opener, falling to North Park in five sets (18–25, 25–20, 25–11, 17–25, 9–15) on Wednesday night at R.A. Faganel Hall.

After dropping the first set, the Bluejays responded with two strong frames. In the second, Elmhurst hit .457 with 17 kills to even the match. Blair Johnson and Ashley Clardy led the attack, while libero Alexis Casey steadied the back row. The third set was even more dominant, as Elmhurst limited North Park to just six kills and forced five errors, rolling to a 25–11 win behind a balanced offensive push that included key kills from Johnson, Clardy, and Paige Belfield.

North Park answered in the fourth, capitalizing on Bluejay miscues to force a decisive fifth set. In the race to 15, Elmhurst fell behind early and could not recover, as the Vikings closed out the match 15–9.

Despite the loss, the Bluejays had several standout individual efforts. Johnson powered the offense with 17 kills on .389 hitting while also adding two blocks. Clardy contributed 13 kills, and Belfield posted 12 kills and 10 digs for a double-double. Larson tallied 10 kills, and setter Freddie Temple dished out 45 assists with nine digs. Casey led the defense with a match-high 23 digs and added four aces from the service line, while Gianna Ptaszek chipped in 14 digs.

Elmhurst finished the night with 54 kills and 66 digs but was undone by 20 attack errors and 15 service errors. North Park countered with 49 kills and 10 aces while hitting .181 as a team.

With the loss, Elmhurst moved to 4–8 overall and 0–1 in the CCIW. The Bluejays continue league play next week looking to rebound.