Box score
SMITHFIELD, R.I. –
Jayden Julian tied a career-high with 11 kills to lead the Northern Kentucky University volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-20) victory over Bryant (R.I.) in the opening match of the Hampton Inn Invitational.
With the win, NKU moves to 10-1 on the season. Additionally,
Liz Hart earned her 50
th coaching victory since taking the helm in 2010.
The Norse will close out the tournament on Saturday with matches against Holy Cross and Akron. Live stats will be available at NKUNorse.com.
The Norse, one of the nation's leaders in service aces per set, picked up nine points on the serve against the Bulldogs (4-8), with
Jenna Schreiver and
Kelly Morrissey leading the way with three each.
Shelby Buschur also chipped in 11 kills and added six digs. Buschur is just 46 kills away from 1,000 on her career. She is looking to become the 16
th member of NKU's 1,000-kill club and the third player in the last two years to achieve the feat.
Kylee Tarantino was again the leader defensively with 13 digs. Now holding at 1,319 career digs, Tarantino needs 14 more to surpass Peggy Ziegler for fourth on the NKU all-time list.
After surrendering the first three points of the match, NKU got on the scoring track, pulled level at 7-7 and never trailed again on the afternoon, using a 14-2 run en route to a 25-16 win in Set 1.
Morrissey got two of her three service aces in Set 2 to cap a 7-1 run for the Norse that put the set away for the Norse. Buschur came alive in Set 3, accounting for six of the team's 18 kills in the set to wrap up a 25-20 set victory.
