EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Keely Creamer led the way with 15 kills on .407 hitting as the Northern Kentucky University volleyball team opened the Dunn Hospitality Tournament with a 3-1 victory over Western Illinois on Friday night.
 
Jayden Julian added 13 kills to help pace the offense for the Norse, who improved to 3-5 on the season. Taylor Snyder added her third double-double of the season with 40 assists and 11 digs. Lauren Hurley led the defensive effort with 12 digs and two service aces while Keyaira Lankheit posted nine blocks on the evening.
 
The match opened with the Norse dropping the opening set, 25-23. After the Norse built up a 9-6 lead in the early going, Western Illinois (0-8) countered with a 7-0 run keyed by three service aces to take a 13-9 edge. NKU battled back and tied the set at 22-22 before a pair of kills from Jordan Jackson ended the set in favor of the Leathernecks.
 
Both teams played tight in Set 2, with neither team taking more than a one-point lead until the Norse took advantage of a bad set and a pair of attack errors to stretch out a 4-0 run and take a 21-17 lead. The Norse went back-and-forth until kills from Snyder and Julian gave the Norse a 25-21 win.
 
Western Illinois jumped out to a 5-3 lead early in the third set, but the Norse closed the gap quickly and the teams traded sideouts to a 21-21 score until Kelly Turner, who finished the day with six kills on a .750 hitting percentage, picked up her second kill of the set to spark a 5-1 set-ending run to put the Norse up 2-1 on the match with a 25-22 set victory. The Norse saw seven blocks in the set, including five from Lankheit, as the NKU finished the match with a 14-9 edge in blocks.
 
An 11-2 run set the pace for the Norse in Set 4, as NKU raced out to a 16-4 run and never looked back. The Norse hit an astonishing .652 in the final set, getting five kills from Julian and four kills each from Creamer and Turner to take a 25-8 win and seal the match.
 
The Norse now prepare for a pair of matches on Saturday, taking on Jackson State at 1:30 p.m. before closing out the tournament against host Evansville at 7 p.m. Live stats for both matches will be available at NKUNorse.com.
 
Fans can interact with Norse volleyball by following @NKUNorseVB on Twitter and Instagram and liking Northern Kentucky University Volleyball on Facebook.
 
NORSE NOTES

• The 14 team blocks for the Norse set a Division I single-match record for the Norse. Their previous record was 12 blocks, reached once in each of the last three seasons. Additionally, Keyaira Lankheit's nine blocks are a D1 high mark for the Norse, besting an eight-block performance by Jenna Ruble against Jacksonville in 2012.
• The win is NKU's first ever against Western Illinois, and pushes NKU's record against Summit League programs to 22-20 all-time.
• NKU held an opponent under 10 points in a 25-point set for the first time since Sept. 6, 2014, when the Norse took Set 3 from SIU Edwardsville, 25-9, en route to a five-set victory.