NKU dropped a three-set decision at No. 11 Lewis on Friday night.
Box score
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Northern Kentucky University's up-tempo offense could not find the openings against No. 11 Lewis on Friday night, and the Norse's winning streak ended at six in sweeping fashion.
Lewis defeated NKU by scores of 25-20, 25-19, 28-26. The 11th-ranked Flyers held NKU to a .151 hitting percentage and pulled out the third set despite trailing by three points early in the stanza.
Lewis improved to 14-2 overall, 6-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. NKU, which entered Friday night's showdown having won six consecutive matches, dropped to 13-8 overall, 4-2 in the GLVC.
Sarah Drennen led NKU with 14 kills, and teammate
Noelle Peterson added nine kills. Lewis limited NKU's top offensive player,
Shelby Buschur, to just four kills the entire match and allowed the sophomore middle hitter to attack at just a -.062 clip.
Buschur entered the match hitting .322 and leading the GLVC in kills per set at 3.86.
Lewis held match point at 25-24 in the third set, but a kill by Peterson tied the stanza. Buschur then served up an ace to give NKU set point at 26-25, but Lewis responded with three straight points to close out the match. The Flyers wrapped up the victory when Hannah Koeneman and Carly Perschnick combined to block Peterson's attack, giving Lewis a 28-26 win.
Kylee Tarantino recorded 15 digs for NKU, which is now 30-17 all-time against Lewis.
Jenna Schreiver dished out 32 assists and added seven digs for NKU.
Lewis hit .280 for the match and finished with eight total team blocks. Koeneman had 10 kills and hit .368 to key the Lewis offense.
NKU concludes the road trip Saturday with a match against Wisconsin-Parkside. The Norse will then compete at the GLVC/Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Crossover Oct. 15-16 in Aurora, Ill.
Pairings for the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover event will be announced Sunday night.
