HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University volleyball team put together one of its most dominant performances of the season on Saturday afternoon, taking a straight-set victory over Atlantic Sun Conference  foe Jacksonville by set scores of 25-13, 25-23, 25-13.
 
The win, NKU's third-straight, put the Norse above .500 in league play at 3-2 and improved their overall record to 13-5. Jacksonville dropped to 9-10 overall and 1-4 in A-Sun play.
 
"The girls played really well today. I thought we were cleaner, we served really aggressively, I think we had eight or nine aces, and did a good job of getting them out of system," said NKU head coach Liz Hart. "Offensively, we only had six hitting errors the entire match and hit close to .400 as a team. They looked very good today."
 
The number, in fact, was .396 in the efficiency department for the Norse with four players hitting over .400 individually. Jenna Ruble led the way, hitting an astonishing .652 while picking up 15 kills and five blocks. Tristen Simpson followed up with nine kills on a .421 attack percentage.  Taylor Snyder picked up her 10^th double-double of the season, posting 34 assists and 10 digs.
 
"Yesterday [against North Florida] we looked a little sluggish," added Hart. "We came out strong and let it lull, but today I thought our energy was much better. We played more aggressively and took some aggressive swings. [Jacksonville is] a really good blocking team but our hitters did a fantastic job. A lot of it came from the serve-receive as our passers did a good job so that we had three good options the majority of the night."
 
The Norse allowed just three service aces while picking up eight of their own, including four from Lauren Hurley, who led the Norse with 11 digs on the day.
 
Sammie Strausbaugh led the Dolphins with 12 kills while Ans Nieto-Gomez added eight kills on a .500 hitting percentage. Rachel Miller led Jacksonville defensively with 11 digs.
 
NKU jumped out to a big lead early, stretching a 9-2 opening run to a 15-4 lead thanks to three kills across four points by Megan Wanstrath. The Norse cruised to a 25-13 set win in the opener, with the Norse hitting .472 in the frame.
 
The Dolphins composed themselves in Set 2 for a battle, and jumped ahead early, pushing to an 11-7 lead. NKU kept it close from there, cutting the lead to 15-12 before rattling off a 4-0 run, book ended by kills from Keely Creamer, to take a 16-15 lead. The teams traded two-point rallies to a 22-21 Jacksonville lead before the Norse closed out the set, picking up four of the final five points of the set when Creamer and Jayden Julian teamed up on a pair of blocks in the late going.
 
Out of the break, NKU set a blistering pace, racing out to a 16-4 lead to start the set before Jacksonville was able to recover, stringing together seven of the next eight points to close the gap to 17-11. The Norse responded, however, claiming the next six points, including back-to-back blocks from Georgia Childers, who came off the bench to close the book on a nine-block day for the Norse against Jacksonville's three blocks.
 
"It was great for Georgia to get those blocks at the end of the night," noted Hart. "But we were able to do that because our serving was really strong. It made Jacksonville more predictable so our blockers were able to figure out where the setter was going and get some positive touches."
 
Childers would get on the scoresheet again, picking up a late kill in Set 3, along with Ruble's match-ending spike to win it.
 
The Norse head south for A-Sun action next weekend, traveling to take on Stetson on Friday and Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday. NKU returns home on Friday, Oct. 24, to host league favorite Lipscomb for Volleyball Alumni Night. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.