TAMPA, Fla. - Northern Kentucky University squared off against a pair of teams ranked in the NCAA Division II preseason poll - No. 9 Florida Southern and No. 7 Tampa - on Saturday, and the Norse fell short in both matches.
Florida Southern pulled out a five-set victory against NKU, winning by scores of 25-20, 26-24, 22-25, 22-25, 15-12. Tampa later posted a 25-21, 25-15, 25-14 win against the Norse.
In the first match, NKU and Florida Southern were tied at 12-all in the fifth set, but a Norse service error and an attacking error helped the Moccasins pull out the victory.
Kristina Eisenmenger recorded 16 kills and attacked at a .485 clip for NKU, while
Kelsey Wesaw hammered down 17 kills.
Natalie Forbes directed the NKU offense to a .336 hitting percentage and finished with 52 assists. The Norse, however, hit just .190 in the fifth set, while Florida Southern attacked at a .348 clip in the deciding stanza.
Danielle Higginbotham, a 6-foot-1 middle hitter, led Florida Southern with 23 kills.
NKU and Tampa battled through 10 ties and three lead changes in the opening set, but the Spartans pulled away late for a 25-21 win. Tampa cruised in the final two sets to complete the sweep over the Norse.
Tampa hit .400 for the match and limited NKU to a .214 attacking percentage. Eisenmenger led NKU with 12 kills, and Wesaw added 11 kills. Tampa served up 11 aces, including five from Camila Saade.
Eisenmenger, a senior right-side hitter and a Notre Dame Academy graduate, now has 1,319 career kills.
NKU opens its home schedule at 7 p.m. Tuesday when Lindsey Wilson visits Regents Hall. The Norse also play host to Thomas More at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
