NKU head coach Liz Holmes has her team ranked No. 12 in the nation.
Box score
SOMERS, Wis. - A school-record start ended for the Northern Kentucky University volleyball team Friday night during a five-set loss to Wisconsin-Parkside.
NKU, which entered Friday's contest having won its first 10 matches of the season, dropped a 29-27, 17-25, 25-20, 15-25, 19-17 decision to the Rangers in DeSimone Gymnasium. The Norse, ranked 12th nationally in the NCAA Division II poll, rallied from a 7-2 deficit in the final set and held match point twice (14-13 and 17-16) only to watch Wisconsin-Parkside come from behind for the upset.
NKU, which had beaten Wisconsin-Parkside nine consecutive times, is 5-1 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Rangers moved to 5-6 overall, 4-2 in the GLVC.
Shelby Buschur pounded down 22 kills and attacked at a .366 clip to lead the NKU offense, while
Kim Nemcek added 17 kills and a .359 hitting percentage.
Sarah Drennen finished with 15 kills for the Norse, who hit .276 for the match.
Wisconsin-Parkside attacked at a .224 clip for the match, but the Rangers did not have an error in 27 attempts during the fifth set (.296 hitting percentage) to pull out the victory. NKU, meanwhile, had seven attack errors in the deciding set and hit .229.
Kylee Tarantino collected a career-high 30 digs to pace the NKU defense. Tarantino's previous career-high was 28 against Drury last season. The junior libero now has 806 career digs as the anchor of the Norse back row.
Kelly Morrissey added 17 digs for NKU, while
Jenna Schreiver dished out 59 assists and collected 15 digs.
NKU is now 30-3 all-time against Wisconsin-Parkside. Before Friday night's upset, the Rangers had not defeated the Norse since Oct. 1, 2004.
NKU concludes the road trip Saturday by taking on No. 22 Lewis in Romeoville, Ill. Lewis (7-4 overall, 3-3 GLVC) has beaten NKU in the last two meetings.
