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Photo GalleryDAYTON, Ohio –
Jayden Julian picked up 15 kills and attacked at a .481 clip to lead the Norse to a scrappy straight-set win over Wright State on Tuesday night at C.J. McLin Gymnasium.
"Jayden played really well tonight. She was executing, hitting the seam every time there was a hole. She would make them pay for it; she just put so much pace on the ball," said head coach
Liz Hart of Julian, who also had eight digs and three blocks on the evening. "Her blocking was excellent; she shut down their slides, and that's something we've really been working on, so I'm really excited to see that play from her."
Megan Wanstrath added 11 kills as the Norse improved to 3-0 on the season entering Friday's home season opener against Samford in the Northern Kentucky Volleyball Invitational.
"Megan had a really nice game as well," added Hart. "She was able to terminate the ball and mix up her shots; her hitting choices were really smart, too."
Mel Stewart led the defense with 10 digs while
Lauren Hurley added nine digs.
Keely Creamer posted six kills and a team-high four blocks as well. Despite the victory, Hart saw room to improve in the match, as the Norse suffered from 12 attack errors and nine service errors in the match.
"It was good that we finished the match in three, we just weren't as crisp and clean today, whether it was serving or hitting. We just weren't as clean defensively as well. I was really happy to see us come back in the second set, I think we were down six or seven points, so it was good to see from the team to respond and push a couple of points and then finish the game."
Set 1 saw the Raiders come out firing on all cylinders, racing out to a 10-7 lead before the Norse thundered back.
McKenzie Eskridge served up a four-point rally to give the Norse an 11-10 lead. Wright State fought back and retook the lead, 13-12, before
Jenna Ruble served up a 5-0 rally, keyed by a double-block from
Keely Creamer and
Jayden Julian, to keep the lead for good.
An 8-2 run in the early goings of Set 2 gave Wright State a 13-7 advantage, but the Norse continued to battle and, again on the strength of Ruble's serving, the Norse got back in the set on a 7-1 run that included four kills from Julian. Ruble got in the game defensively as well, adding a key block on an Ashley Langjahr attack to make it 23-21 for the Norse. WSU tied it back up before Julian got back in, adding a late kill and a set-ending block assist to put the Norse in command with a 26-24 set win.
The Norse put the pedal down in Set 3, taking an early 5-2 lead that they would never relinquish as NKU took the match with a 25-20 set win. Ruble picked up five of her six kills in the final stanza, hitting .625 on the set. Julian added five kills as well as the Norse hit .419 as a group in the third set.
NKU welcomes in Samford, Southern Illinois Edwardsville and Eastern Michigan this weekend for the Northern Kentucky Volleyball Invitational, a two-day tournament beginning on Friday evening. Friday night fans are encouraged to wear gold to NKU's match against Samford at 7 p.m. The first 100 students in attendance will receive a free bandana. NKU's action on Saturday begins at 12:30 against SIUE.
For more information on NKU Volleyball, follow @NKUNorseVBall on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
