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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – On an afternoon in which she was honored for recording her 1,000th career kill the previous night, Northern Kentucky University middle hitter
Shelby Buschur showed she wasn't nearly done.
The senior hammered down a match-high 21 kills and attacked at a blistering .633 pace to push the Northern Kentucky University volleyball team to a 3-1 (25-16, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23) victory over Atlantic Sun Conference foe Jacksonville on Saturday in Regents Hall.
Haley Lippert added 13 kills, and
Jayden Julian once again came close to a double-double, recording nine kills and 10 digs as NKU improved to 14-2 overall, 2-1 in A-Sun play.
Buschur was quick to share credit for her individual honor with her setter,
Jenna Schreiver, who added 50 assists on the day and was recently honored for notching her 4,000th career assist.
“She's been getting me the ball, giving some great sets, and helping my defense. It's awesome,” said Buschur. “We work really well together. [Coach
Liz Hart] even says 'How do we do it?' She just reads my mind.”
“Shelby's done great, and it's a great honor for her. She had another game where she played outstanding.” added Hart when talking about the attack pair. “They have been key players since their freshman year; Jenna's done a great job running our offense and, obviously, without Jenna our players wouldn't be able to get their kills. It's really great to see them both receive honors.”
Kylee Tarantino once again led the Norse defense with 15 digs and added three service aces, while
Anna Prickel added 13 digs.
The mind-reading started early in the match, as Buschur picked up five kills, including the first two kills of the match, to set the tone for the Norse in a 25-16 Set 1 win. NKU's defense played strong as well, holding Jacksonville (2-13 overall, 0-2 A-Sun) to an .028 attack percentage in the opening set.
Buschur added five more kills in Set 2 as NKU claimed a 25-21 win. The Norse used a 3-0 run early and never trailed after that point. Jacksonville showed life in Set 3, as Gabriela Roman picked up six of her team-high 17 kills in a 25-23 set win.
Buschur took it upon herself to get the Norse back going.
“When the other team gets on runs and I just get frustrated, I just take all my anger out on the ball,” said Buschur, whose anger accounted for eight kills on 10 attacks in a 25-23 Set 4 victory.
Hart knows that this is just the beginning for her team's trek through the Atlantic Sun, which takes stops at Kennesaw State and Mercer next weekend.
“We are playing really well as a team,” said Hart. “Our seniors have done a really great job carrying us, and we are just working to get better every day. We have a lot of things to work on Monday before we go to Kennesaw and Mercer. I think we are playing to our potential right now, and I'm excited to see how good we can be.”
