Jenna Schreiver finished with 49 assists and a career-high 17 kills.
Box score
AURORA, Ill. - In what might be remembered as the most important match of the season for Northern Kentucky University, junior setter
Jenna Schreiver stepped up in big-time fashion against Ferris State.
Schreiver finished with a career-high 17 kills and dished out 49 assists as No. 13 NKU rallied to knock off No. 11 Ferris State, 20-25, 25-21, 14-25, 26-24, 19-17 at the Great Lakes Valley Conference/Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Crossover on Friday night. She also attacked at a .471 clip and added eight digs as NKU won its seventh straight match and improved to 17-2 overall.
The Norse also halted Ferris State's winning streak at 11 en route to the key regional victory. Ferris State, which earlier in the day had defeated Lewis, dropped to 16-2.
NKU fought off two match points in the fifth set and pulled out the 19-17 victory when Schreiver recorded her 17th kill of the match off an assist from
Gennie Galfano. Just before that, Galfano had slammed down two straight attacks after Ferris State took an 18-17 lead.
Trailing 2-1 in sets, NKU built an early lead in the fourth frame, withstood a furious Ferris State rally and eventually captured a 26-24 win.
Shelby Buschur converted an attack to give the Norse a 25-24 lead, and the junior middle hitter closed out the 26-24 victory by serving up an ace at set point.
Buschur finished with 14 kills, two aces and five blocks. She also attacked at a .333 clip for the match.
Sarah Drennen collected a double-double with 18 kills and 15 digs. Galfano and
Noelle Peterson each recorded 10 kills for the Norse, who hit .254.
Kelly Morrissey played a key role in the win with 19 digs and eight assists.
Kylee Tarantino again anchored the back row and finished with 25 digs. Freshman
Jenna Ruble, forced into action when NKU standout middle hitter
Kim Nemcek left with an injury, collected three blocks in the win.
Ferris State, the No. 1 seed from the GLIAC, hit .287 for the match. NKU is now 6-5 all-time against the Bulldogs.
NKU concludes the two-day event Saturday by facing No. 25 Northern Michigan at 2 p.m. (Eastern time).
