Box score
FT. MYERS, Fla. –
Keely Creamer equaled her career high with 17 kills and attacked at a .609 clip, but the Northern Kentucky University volleyball team was unable to overcome a two-set deficit as Florida Gulf Coast took a 27-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-16 victory in Atlantic Sun Conference action on Saturday night.
FGCU was led by Olivia Mesner, who had 14 kills and seven blocks. Gigi Meyer notched a double-double with 46 assists and 11 digs for the Eagles, who improved to 10-13 overall and 6-3 in A-Sun play.
Megan Wanstrath had 14 kills and
Jayden Julian added 11 as NKU fell to 8-14 overall and 3-7 in conference action.
Taylor Snyder added 57 assists, seven digs and four service aces.
The Norse came back from a five-point deficit at 14-9 to take a lead in Set 1 at 21-20 on the strength of a pair of kills by
Jenna Ruble, who got four of her eight kills in the opening set, to make a 3-0 run to close the final gap. The Eagles responded with back-to-back points to retake the lead as the teams held serve from there until Karina Mambuca and Jessica Barnes combined on the set-winning block at 27-25.
FGCU jumped out to a 5-1 lead in Set 2 keyed by four Norse attack errors, including a block by Christine Pinder and Olivia Mesner. NKU chipped away at the lead until Creamer rolled off three-straight Norse kills to close out a 5-1 run that gave NKU an 18-17 lead. Creamer would finish the set with six kills, but FGCU once again proved resilient and bounced back to finish the set on a 6-2 run to take a 25-23 win and go into intermission up 2-0 in the match.
Snyder served up a storm out of the gate in Set 3, picking up three service aces early to key a 7-2 Norse run and build up a lead that the Norse would not relinquish. NKU hit .464 in the set and cruised to a 25-17 win in the set.
Mesner got three quick kills to help set up FGCU with a 4-1 lead in Set 4, and the Eagles would only build from there, taking the match with a 25-16 decision. FGCU's Shelby Joslin ended the match with just three kills, all in the final set, with two of them coming in the final two points of the match to seal victory for the Eagles.
NKU closes out its three-match road swing on Tuesday with a match at in-state rival Eastern Kentucky. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
