Box score
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. –
Jayden Julian equaled her career high with an 18-kill performance, but it wasn't enough to power the Northern Kentucky University volleyball team past Florida International in a 3-1 (25-22,25-17,23-25,25-16) setback on Friday night at the Active Ankle Challenge, hosted by Purdue University.
Julian added nine digs, falling just short of her third career double-double, while
Jenna Ruble had 11 kills for the Norse, who fell to 4-7 after dropping their third straight contest.
Anna Prickel led the Norse with 14 digs and now needs 54 digs to join NKU's 1,000-dig club.
Ksenia Sukhareva had 15 kills and 14 digs to lead the Panthers, who improved to 6-4 on the year. Kimberly Smith had 12 kills and added eight of FIU's 15 total blocks on the night.
NKU put together a 5-1 run in Set 1 to take a 15-13 lead, but FIU responded immediately with a 6-2 run of their own to build a lead the Panthers would not relinquish en route to a 25-22 set victory. An 8-0 run set the Panthers up for success in Set 2 as FIU took a 25-17 win.
The Norse strung together a 9-2 run of their own in Set 3, racing out to a 15-10 lead, but FIU closed the gap, using three straight blocks and a service ace to pull the match level at 19-19. The teams stayed even to 22-22, when back-to-back kills by Julian set up
Megan Wanstrath, who used one of her six kills on the match to put the set away, 25-23.
The Panthers got five blocks in the final frame to take a 25-16 victory. After the teams battled to an 8-all tie, a 9-2 run gave FIU all the cushion necessary to take the win.
The Norse will return to action at the Active Ankle Challenge on Saturday, taking on No. 21 Purdue at noon before closing out the weekend against Syracuse at 5 p.m.
