HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky volleyball avenged two regular-season losses to IUPUI in the first round of the Horizon League Championship, taking down the Jaguars in four sets to advance to the semifinals, 25-18, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19. NKU advances to 12-14 overall, while IUPUI's season closes at 16-14. Additionally, the win was NKU's 100th victory in the Division I era.
First Set Summary
- NKU went out to a 13-9 lead off a serving run by McKenzie Eskridge and continued to extend the lead even further from there.
- Both teams worked to earn their points in the final 11 points with no unforced errors on either side. The Norse ended the frame on four straight points, with kills from Kaelin Gentile, Haley Libs and Laura Crawford along with a block courtesy of Gentile and Crawford.
- NKU's freshman middles shone in the opening set, combining for 10 kills on 16 swings. Gentile had six kills and no errors on nine attempts to go with two blocks, while Bailey Western added four terminations.
Second Set Summary
- IUPUI jumped out to an early advantage, and held NKU at a 20-13 deficit. The Norse stormed back with a 10-4 run and faced four set points before eventually falling by two points.
- Gentile added six more kills, impressing even more on just eight attempts.
Third Set Summary
- Not to be outdone by her second-set performance, Gentile terminated six attacks on seven attempts to lead the Norse in the third stanza.
- The Norse took the lead off a six-point run to give NKU a 14-8 edge.
- NKU took a timeout at 22-18 when the Jaguars seemed to be stringing a run together, which was followed up by an IUPUI attacking error and back-to-back kills from Gentile and Crawford.
- Ashton Terrill and McKenzie Eskridge led the defense as NKU out-dug IUPUI, 22-15, with six and five digs, respectively.
Fourth Set Summary
- NKU led by as many as 10 points in the final frame.
- Though Gentile was slowed with just two kills in the set, she picked up her defense with four blocks and opened up Haley Libs on the left pin, who posted seven kills on 14 swings.
Norse Notes
- Gentile stunned the Jaguars with the first 20-kill performance of her career, committing just three errors for a .515 clip. At the net, the rookie also contributed to seven of NKU's eight blocks.
- Libs had a double-double of 14 kills and 12 digs and added to a rounded performance with four blocks and two aces.
- Western posted 10 kills as the third Norse in double-digit kills.
- Crawford was just short of a double-double with nine kills and 12 digs.
- In the back row, Shelby Olsen, Eskridge and Terrill also had double-digit dig matches. Terrill led all players with 16 scoops with Eskridge not far behind at 15 digs. Olsen had 14 digs to go with her 51 assists.
- The Norse hit .195 and held IUPUI to .147, and out-dug the Jaguars 83-70.
- NKU has advanced to the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship in all three seasons that the Norse have been in the League.
- With the win, NKU now holds a 3-2 advantage in the all-time series against IUPUI.
Up Next
- As the lowest remaining seed in the tournament, NKU will face No. 1 seed Cleveland State tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET. All matches in the tournament will be broadcast on ESPN3 with streaming available on computers, tablets, smart phones and streaming devices through WatchESPN and the ESPN App.
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