Box score (XML) | Box score (PDF)MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University volleyball team opened its first championship-eligible season in Division I with a strong statement, posting a 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 18-25, 25-21) victory over defending Big South Conference champion Radford in the Eagle Challenge, hosted by Morehead State University.
Jenna Ruble had 12 kills and hit .400 on the match to lead NKU, which improved to 1-0 on the season.
Tristen Simpson added 10 kills and
Jayden Julian had nine kills to go with 11 digs. The front-row defense was led by
Megan Wanstrath, who was in on four of NKU's six blocks on the match.
"It's always great to get that first win of the season, especially against a good team," said head coach
Liz Hart. "Chuck (
Jenna Ruble) did a really nice job today. Everyone knew the ball was going to her but she was really smart with the ball and made some great attacks.
"We watched their championship match from last season so we were able to get an idea of what their hitters look like, so I think we felt confident after we were able to see their size and their ability and how we could match up."
Defensively,
Mel Stewart led the Norse with 21 digs, and freshman
McKenzie Eskridge also had 11 digs playing in her first collegiate match.
Lauren Hurley added eight digs and posted four service aces.
"We were really scrappy on the back line. We did a great job of hustling and just doing everything we could to keep the ball off the floor," added Hart. "We served really well today and did a great job keeping them out of system. Lauren was serving really well, especially, and kept us on some 3-4 point rallies to really help us close things out."
Rachel Wiechecki led the Highlanders (0-1) with 17 kills, 22 digs and five total blocks. Emma Deininger added 12 kills, while Savanna Cantrell chipped in 11 kills. Jena Braden finished with 49 assists.
The Norse were off to a solid start in Set 1, as the Norse never trailed and back-to-back kills from Ruble and Julian gave the Norse the cushion they needed to seal the set. Ruble ended with four kills on the set, and Wanstrath and Simpson each added three more for a 25-18 result.
Set 2 saw the Norse again race ahead, this time on the back of three-straight attack errors from the Radford front line to take a 10-7 lead. The Highlanders climbed back into the set, though, taking a 20-19 lead that forced Coach Hart to spend a timeout. The breather paid off, as Wanstrath and
Keely Creamer teamed up for a block on Cantrell's attack to tie things up, and Stewart followed up with a service ace to give the Norse the lead and spur a 6-1, set-ending rally as the Norse took the second stanza, 25-21.
The Highlanders fought back in Set 3, coming back from down 10-3 in the early going to post a 25-18 win in Set 3, keyed by an 11-2 run that saw the Norse commit four attack errors and allow a pair of service aces.
"We needed to remember that we're the ones up 2-1 at that point," said Hart. "They tightened up a little bit and got a little anxious, so we told them they just needed to stay aggressive, keep in our system and just play to win and finish the game."
On July 22, the Atlantic Sun Conference announced that NKU would be eligible for conference postseason competition in all sports. NKU is in the third year of its four-year transitional process and is still ineligible for NCAA Tournament competition.
NKU responded in Set 4, jumping out to an early 6-2 lead keyed by a four-point service rally by Hurley. Radford chipped away to take a brief lead, 11-10, but again the Norse pushed past, rallying four straight points to make it a 14-11 lead that NKU would not relinquish. Ruble picked up both of her blocks on the match in the final set.
NKU concludes its participation in the Eagle Challenge on Saturday with a noon matchup against the hosts, Morehead State. Links to live stats and video of the match are available at NKUNorse.com.
