HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Jayden Julian led three Northern Kentucky University hitters in double-figures with 17 kills as the Norse came from behind to defeat in-state rival Eastern Kentucky, 3-1, (17-25, 25-23, 25-16, 25-18) on Tuesday night.
 
Keely Creamer added 14 kills and five blocks while Jenna Ruble chipped in 12 kills as well. Julian also had a team-best 11 digs as the Norse improved to 15-7 overall leading into a key weekend of Atlantic Sun Conference play.
 
"It started out kind of slow, but ended up really exciting," added Creamer. "We really kicked it into gear in that last couple of sets and pulled it off."
 
Taylor Snyder added 50 assists, five kills and seven digs on the match as well.
 
"After the first set I thought we did a nice job; we started doing a better job passing and serving aggressively," said NKU head coach Liz Hart. "It's so hard to win a match when you go down 0-2, we really needed to fight, especially there at the end [of Set 2] when it got close, but we found a way to finish it. Taylor did a nice job serving a good rally for us to get us going there."
 
Rachel Vick had 13 kills to lead the Colonels (17-11). Alexis Plagens added 12 kills while Dena Ott picked up 20 digs on the back row.
 
EKU came out of the gates on a blistering pace, jumping out to a 12-5 lead while keeping the Norse off balance in their passing game. The Norse never got within five points in the set, as EKU hit at a .367 clip en route to a 25-17 set win. Julian picked up six of her kills for the Norse in the first frame.
 
The Colonels looked to be in control to open Set 2 as well, claiming three of the set's first four points. The Norse came back with a 5-1 run, punctuated by a block from Creamer and Drew Hendricks, to take a two-point advantage. EKU retook the lead briefly, at 9-8, before Creamer helped take over the set for the Norse. Creamer got four-consecutive sideout points for the Norse. The Norse stretched the lead to five at set point before EKU stormed back with four consecutive points before Creamer ended it with a powerful kill to give NKU the 25-23 win going into intermission.
 
A 6-0 run in the middle of Set 3 gave NKU the cushion it needed to take the edge in the match. Snyder served up a rally that included a service ace and a pair of Julian kills to give NKU a 16-10 lead en route to a 25-16 set victory. NKU's passing game improved dramatically, as the Norse hit a blistering .536 on the set.
 
NKU took six of the first seven points and looked to be in clear command in Set 4, but the Colonels would not go away, climbing back to take a 15-14 lead after a pair of solid rallies. The Norse closed out strong, though, ending the match on a 10-2 run to take a 25-18 win.
 
NKU now looks forward to a pair of important A-Sun matches this weekend, beginning with Friday's rematch with Florida Gulf Coast. First serve from Regents Hall is set for 6:30 p.m. It's Fright Night at Regents, with a "Best Dressed" Halloween costume contest for fans in attendance. The Norse will close out their four-match home stand on Saturday against Stetson, with a 1 p.m. start. Saturday is Superhero Day, and fans can come dressed in their best superhero attire. It's also Serve it Up Saturday, where fans can meet the team for post-match autographs.
 
"We have two really great teams coming into our home gym this weekend," said Hart of the coming weekend. "We're confident, but we have some work to do to get prepared for Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson."
 
"Our momentum from the last couple of matches has helped with our confidence," added Creamer. "Once we tweak some things during practice this week headed into our matches this weekend I think we can do really well."
 
Fans can find the latest info on NKU volleyball by following @NKUNorseVBall on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.