HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky volleyball has been making historic marks in its last few matches, and Saturday's sweep of UIC was no different. Redshirt-senior setter
Taylor Snyder and sophomore outside hitter
Haley Libs teamed up to record double-doubles in the 25-22, 25-18, 25-19 win over the Flames, marking the first time since NKU joined the Division I ranks that two players have recorded a double-double in a straight-set victory. With the win, NKU moves to 11-8 on the season and 5-3 in Horizon League, while UIC drops to 13-9 (1-7 HL).
NKU has now won five straight matches in three sets. The last time the Norse took down five consecutive teams in sweeps was between Sept. 28-Oct. 9, 2011, with wins over Cedarville, Drury, Missouri S&T, William Jewell and Rockhurst. The last time that the Norse did not drop a set in five matches in conference action was in the 2005 season, when NKU downed Kentucky Wesleyan, Missouri-St. Louis, Quincy, Bellarmine and St. Joseph's between Oct. 18-28.
The Quote
"We did a great job defensively tonight. They have outstanding outsides. And I'm so excited for Haley and Taylor to get double-doubles. Collectively as a team, we were able to execute and serve well, and I know a lot of our hitters had great nights. When we were down in the second set, we kind of just called a time out and said that we needed to do a good job siding out. Once we had that, we needed to serve aggressively and go on some runs. We knew that we could get them out of system on their serve receive, so we relied heavily on our servers and they did a nice job for us." –Head Coach
Liz Hart
First Set Summary
- Senior middle hitter Keely Creamer led the Norse offense with six kills in the first set, while Libs posted five kills on nine swings and added four digs.
- In the back row, redshirt-senior libero Lauren Hurley had nine digs for her highest count of the match.
- UIC hit a respectable .282, but the Norse hit .326 in the opening set to take the 25-22 victory.
Second Set Summary
- NKU trailed UIC by as many as five points in the second set, but made a surge after being down 6-10 to post a 25-18 win. The Norse had an 11-2 run to end the set.
- Libs led the way with seven kills while committing just one error, and also contributed a block.
- NKU hit above .300 once more at .314, this time holding the Flames to a .250 clip.
Third Set Summary
- The final set would prove to be the strongest behind a .433 clip for the Norse while holding UIC to just .111 and seven kills.
- Snyder led a balanced offense with five kills by Creamer and four from both Libs and senior outside hitter Tristen Simpson.
- Libs and Hurley both had four digs on the defensive end.
Norse Notes
- NKU's five consecutive sweeps are the first of many kinds in many seasons. The last time that NKU had five straight victories of any kind was between Aug. 29-Sept. 6, 2014, when the Norse went on a five-match winning streak. However, the last time that NKU had five straight sweeps was in 2011. The last time NKU had five straight conference wins of any kind was in the 2010 season over St. Joseph's, Illinois-Springfield, Quincy, Missouri-St. Louis and Missouri S&T. Most impressively, NKU has had five straight sweeps in conference action, a first since Oct. 18-28, 2005, with wins over Kentucky Wesleyan, Missouri-St. Louis, Quincy, Bellarmine and St. Joseph's.
- Snyder and Libs both recorded double-doubles in the win, with Snyder dishing out 43 assists while picking up 13 digs and Libs putting down 16 swings to go with 10 digs. The last time two Norse had double-doubles in a sweep was on Oct. 21, 2007, in a sweep of Mount St. Joseph. Liz Holmes, now the head coach of the NKU program, had 16 kills and 10 digs while Tristen Dye had 15 kills and 14 digs.
- Snyder recorded her third consecutive double-double in a sweep. NKU's available statistical box scores date back to the 2006 season, in which there is no instance of any player having three-straight double-doubles in consecutive sweeps. The closest is from the 2007 season, when Tristen Dye posted consecutive double-doubles on Sept. 8 in wins over Kentucky Wesleyan and Wheeling Jesuit.
- Creamer had 13 kills off a .320 clip to go with two blocks. She has reached double-digit kills in the last five sweeps.
- Simpson added 11 kills hitting .400 for her most efficient match of the season.
- Hurley led the Norse defense with 17 digs and also added an ace.
- NKU hit .351, marking the second time this season that the Norse have hit above a .350 clip. It is bested only by the NKU Division I-era record of .402 set on Oct. 7 against Valparaiso.
- The Norse registered 53 kills, tying the most in a three-set match in the Division I era for NKU, while holding UIC to just 33 kills.
Up Next
- NKU hits the road to start the second half of the Horizon League season. The Norse will head to Valparaiso, Indiana, to take on the Crusaders on their home turf with first serve slated for 5 p.m. ET on Oct. 22.
Join the Uprising!
