DAYTON, Ohio – Northern Kentucky volleyball swept its third consecutive opponent with a 25-18, 25-22, 26-24 win over Wright State on Sunday afternoon. It marks the first time since Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 2014 that the Norse have taken down three consecutive opponents in straight sets after sweeping Horizon League foes Oakland and Valparaiso in the previous two matches. With the win, NKU moves to 9-8 on the season, including 3-3 in Horizon League play, while Wright State drops to 8-11 (3-3 HL).
Of note, redshirt-senior setter
Taylor Snyder recorded her 4,000th career assist in the sweep. She is just the fourth player in NKU program history to reach the 4,000-assist mark, and the first to do so solely in the Division I era.
The Quote
"We're super excited to get of here in three sets. Wright State is a very good team and we were able to do a great job defensively. They have a lot of heavy arms; I thought we did a good job on their outside hitter, Klusman. They played really scrappy and we needed to make sure that we matched that. We were staying aggressive and took big swings when they were making some plays and stayed with it. It's nice to go home on a three-match sweep in the League. I think the girls have come out with a different type of focus and urgency since we made it home two weeks ago, so we just need to continue to keep it up." –Head Coach
Liz Hart
First Set Summary
- NKU held the Raiders to a .098 hitting percentage in the opening set while swinging at a .275 clip in the 25-18 opener.
- Sophomore outside hitter Haley Libs led the offense with five kills on 10 swings, followed closely by senior middle hitter Keely Creamer with four kills on eight swings.
- Redshirt-senior libero Lauren Hurley racked up 11 digs for her strongest defensive set of the match.
- Overall, the Norse out-dug the Raiders 21-12, with only the Wright State libero recording more than one dig.
Second Set Summary
- Creamer took over in the second set with five kills, while freshman rightside hitter Laura Crawford had four kills with a .500 clip.
- After not having a block in the opening set, NKU had four rejections led by Snyder with three assists, while Creamer chipped in two block assists.
- NKU hit .233, while Wright State had its most efficient set at .139.
Third Set Summary
- In the final set, NKU hit for its lowest percentage of the match at .146 but held on for the 26-24 win to seal the match.
- Libs added three kills while Snyder had a balanced outing with two kills to go with five digs and a block.
- NKU once again had four blocks while only surrendering one to the Raiders.
Norse Notes
- Not only are the three consecutive sweeps the first since 2014 for the Norse, but the feat is the first time since NKU joined Division I that three straight conference opponents have been swept. The last time it happened was in the 2011 season, when NKU went on a streak of five straight sweeps that included Great Lakes Valley Conference opponents Drury, Missouri S&T, William Jewel and Rockhurst.
- Snyder had an impressive stat line with her fourth double-double of the season after dishing out 34 assists to go with 10 digs. She now has 4,022 career assists and is 10 digs shy of 1,000 career digs. Snyder also added four kills at a .571 clip and four blocks.
- Both Libs and Creamer hit double figures for the second consecutive match with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Libs added six digs while Creamer had three block assists.
- Crawford set a new career high with nine kills and a .409 hitting percentage after going errorless in the match. She also added three blocks.
- Hurley had 23 digs, which makes it two consecutive sweeps that she has recorded the number. It is the second time this season that Hurley has averaged over 7.0 digs per set over a weekend of competition.
Up Next
- The Norse return home for a mid-week match against Youngstown State. NKU will square off with the Penguins at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 12 inside Regents Hall.
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