Box score
RICHMOND, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University volleyball team could not find an answer for Eastern Kentucky's Ashley Edmond, who led the Colonels to a 25-19,25-16,23-25,25-16 victory over the Norse in Tuesday's non-conference match at McBrayer Arena.
Edmond finished the night with 20 kills, 22 digs and eight blocks while attacking at a .298 clip to lead EKU to its fourth-straight win and a 12-12 record on the season. Rachel Vick added 16 kills and Alexis Plagens chipped in 11. Dena Ott added a team-high 23 digs and four service aces.
NKU dropped its third in a row, falling to 8-15 on the year.
Jayden Julian led the Norse, picking up her sixth double-double of the year with 12 kills and 10 digs.
Kaela Jo Freppon was one dig shy of matching her career high, finishing the night with 16.
Keely Creamer,
Megan Wanstrath and
Jenna Ruble each posted eight kills for the Norse.
Taylor Snyder chipped in 31 assists as well.
With the Norse leading 11-10, EKU took the lead for good in Set 1 with a 6-0 run, keyed by Edmond's two kills and two blocks in the stretch. The Norse cut the lead to three points at 22-19 with a three-point rally of their own, but Edmond once again stepped up and got the final three kills of the set.
NKU raced out to a 5-0 start in Set 2, but EKU responded immediately with a 5-1 run of their own to pull within one. The teams went back and forth to a 14-14 score before the Colonels surged ahead, finishing the set on an 11-2 run, with an attack error and a service error providing the only Norse points in the stretch.
The Colonels took a 7-3 lead in the opening stages of Set 3 and extended the lead to seven at 21-14 before
Lauren Hurley served up a 6-0 run for the Norse that cut the advantage to one. After a pair of sideouts each, NKU closed out the set on a 4-0 run as Snyder served up an ace for a 25-23 win.
It was déjà vu in Set 4 as EKU once again jumped out to a 7-3 lead to force an NKU timeout, after which the Norse battled back to bring the match within one at 10-9. EKU pulled away from there with a 9-1 run and held on for a 25-16 set win to take the match.
With non-conference play finished, NKU returns home on Friday to take on Atlantic Sun Conference leader Jacksonville to start the second half of the league schedule. First serve from Regents Hall is set for 6 p.m. The Norse will close out the league weekend on Saturday when they welcome North Florida at 3 p.m.
