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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky University's
Shelby Buschur had 12 kills and attacked at a .611 clip to lead the Norse volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-13) victory over in-state foe Eastern Kentucky on Tuesday night.
The win pushed the Norse to 20-5 on the season and secured NKU's 20th consecutive 20-win season, a streak which started in 1993 when Mary Biermann's squad went 27-11, prefacing a string of six conference championships over a seven-year span.
But the 2012 edition of Norse volleyball cleared a hurdle that previous teams did not – a full Division I schedule.
“I don't know if we thought we were going to [win 20 matches] in the beginning of the year,” said head coach
Liz Hart, who also registered her 60th career coaching victory. “The girls have done a good job of playing together. We might not be the biggest team or the strongest team out there, but we have a big heart and the girls have done a nice job this season.”
“We had a little doubt in the beginning because of the step-up in competition,” added Buschur, who is in her senior season. “But we seniors wanted to make it happen, and we've worked really hard to make it happen.
“It was a pretty big match for us. It's always fun playing in-state rivals, especially coming from Division II, we have to prove ourselves to other schools in the state.” NKU also picked up a victory over Morehead State on the road earlier this season.
Both teams came out on fire, each hitting over .400 in the opening set with the Norse edging out a 25-23 victory. An early 6-2 run gave the Norse the early advantage, paced by three of
Jenna Ruble's six kills on the match. The Colonels (7-14) battled back to level the score at 22-22, but couldn't find the knockout blow as a setting error by Abbey Cvelbar gave the Norse the lead back, allowing Morrissey and Lippert to pick up the kills to get the set victory.
A 13-4 run during a generally sloppy second set turned the tide for the Norse, who held off an 8-1 rally late to close out the 25-23 set victory. NKU hit just .029 on the set, while EKU was held to a .000 hitting percentage in the stanza.
“Our hitters did a great job tonight,” added Hart. “Our second set we struggled, that wasn't the prettiest set. A lot of ups and downs, but we came back and we were able to finish the set and come back strong in the third.”
Set 3 was all NKU, as the Norse raced out to a 12-4 lead and never looked back, hitting .591 as a team in the set, committing just one error in the final stanza. Buschur had six of her kills in the set while Tarantino added nine digs.
NKU continues its three-match home stand on Friday against Atlantic Sun Conference foe USC Upstate. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
