PITTSBURGH – Northern Kentucky volleyball opened up the 2017 season a week late, but the Norse did not disappoint in their opening matches at the Duquesne Invitational. NKU started off the season with a sweep of Robert Morris (25-13, 25-20, 25-18) before taking down host Duquesne, 25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 25-20.
NKU vs. Robert Morris Match Report
The Quote
"It was nice to get a match under our belt and work out the jitters. We went on great serving runs and terminated at a high percentage. Our defense did a good job making a lot of digs, with over 20 per set." – Head Coach
Liz Hart
First Set Summary
- NKU came out swinging, taking an early 9-3 lead over the Colonial while hitting at a .500 clip and holding RMU to .000 in the first 12 points.
- Following some back-and-forth play, the Norse rallied behind a tremendous serving run from freshman libero Ashton Terrill for an eight-point run to take a 19-7 lead. The Norse earned all of their points during the run with seven kills and an ace by Terrill.
- From there, the Norse kept their distance before junior Kelly Turner ended the frame from the right pin.
- NKU was led by junior outside hitter Haley Libs, who was halfway to a double-double after just one set with five kills and seven digs. Sophomore outside Laura Crawford was equally impressive defensively, tallying eight digs.
Second Set Summary
- The second set featured more competitive scoring from the Colonials, who held leads up until the 11-10 mark. Turner helped the Norse swing the lead in their favor, 15-11, with a trio of kills, and NKU continued to edge RMU out of contention.
- Crawford added three kills within five points to give NKU a 20-15 advantage, from which the Colonials were unable to overcome in the 25-20 victory.
Third Set Summary
- Crawford took the reins in the final set, blasting eight kills while also notching five digs as the Norse once again hit for a high percentage at .341.
- By the midway point of the set, NKU's pin hitters had taken over the match with 10 terminations over the final 19 points.
- RMU made a brief run at the end while taking advantage of some hitting errors, but an error of the Colonials' own put the nail in the coffin as NKU sealed the win in the third, 25-18.
Norse Notes
- Both Laura Crawford and Haley Libs posted double-doubles in the victory. Crawford had her first career double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs, nearly tripling her previous career mark of six digs set last season. Libs added 11 kills and a match-high 16 digs.
- A pair of Norse recording double-doubles in a sweep is an uncommon feat by itself, but the accomplishment is more impressive considering that Crawford and Libs are both attackers. Two Norse had not had kills-digs double-doubles in a sweep of an opponent since Oct. 21, 2007 against Mount St. Joseph. Current head coach Liz Hart (née Holmes) had 16 kills and 10 digs in the three-set victory, while Tristen Dye chipped in 15 kills and 14 digs.
- NKU hit .300 for the match, while RMU was held to .153. The Norse had nearly 20 more kills than the Colonials (49-30) and 15 more digs (62-47). Robert Morris held the edge on serving (4-2) and blocks (7.5-4.0).
- Three Norse had double-digit digs, with Terrill adding 14 scoops in her career debut. No Colonial exceeded nine digs in the contest.
- Kaelin Gentile also enjoyed a successful career opener, adding six kills at a .308 clip.
- Turner was just shy of 10 kills, putting away nine while hitting .571. Childers also hit for a high percentage with six kills and no errors on 10 attempts.
NKU vs. Duquesne Match Report
The Quote
"Haley terminated at a very high rate and Ashton went on a great serving run in the third set to help us go up 2-1. Duquesne is a solid team. It was a great team win." - Head Coach
Liz Hart
First Set Summary
- The match was tightly-contested from the start, with the Norse and the Dukes trading points for the vast majority of the opening set.
- Duquesne ran its offense through middle blocker Abbie Trzeciak in the frame, and the Norse took advantage of her moving into the back row at 19-19 to take the lead.
- NKU forced a pair of errors and converted on three attacks to finish off the set, 25-22.
- Crawford paced the offense with seven kills while Libs added five, and the Norse had their highest attack percentage of the match at .308.
- Gentile established herself at the net early on, rejecting three of the Dukes' attempts.
Second Set Summary
- The second set had a similar tone to the first, with a point-for-point battle deep into the 20s. It became a game of the first team to score two points with a deadlock at 23-23, and Duquesne earned the final two kills of the set to claim its only frame, 25-23.
- Libs and Crawford continued to produce, with Libs recording six kills and no errors to go with four digs, while Crawford had five kills.
Third Set Summary
- It looked as if the Dukes would take the 2-1 advantage going into the fourth set, leading by as many as six points. But the Norse forced errors and got Terrill to the line to swing the advantage to 20-18 in favor of NKU, as the freshman rattled off four aces and a fifth zinger that forced a bad set from Duquesne.
- The run disrupted Duquesne's rhythm, even further more after a kill from Drew Hendricks and one from Crawford drew the timeout, which was followed by three-straight hitting errors to give NKU the 25-19 win.
Fourth Set Summary
- Crawford came on strong in the final frame once more, going off for seven kills on 10 attempts with no errors and adding five digs to her stat line.
- The Norse held a commanding lead at 20-10 following a 10-3 run that saw NKU convert terminations and force errors on the other side of the net.
- Duquesne fought back within four points, but NKU ultimately secured the 25-20 win to claim the match.
Norse Notes
- Crawford and Libs once again posted double-doubles in the victory. The last time two NKU attackers had double-doubles in the same match was on Nov. 14, 2015 against Cleveland State, courtesy of Libs (17 kills, 13 digs) and Jayden Julian (10 kills, 17 digs).
- Crawford bested her career high of 16 kills set as a rookie, as she hit the 20-kill mark for the first time in her career to go with 13 digs.
- Libs added 15 kills and 14 digs, and both outsides hit above .220 for the match.
- Childers had another errorless match, this time registering four winners for the Norse to go with three blocks and two aces.
- NKU's freshmen on the floor put on a defensive showing both at the net and in the back row. Gentile was staunch up front with seven blocks, while Terrill had a team-best 18 digs coupled with four aces.
- Olsen averaged more than 10 assists per set, dishing out 41 in the victory, and just missed out on her first career double-double with nine digs.
- NKU out-blocked Duquesne, 11-7, and hit for a higher percentage (.186 - .143), but the Dukes recorded 55 kills compared to 47 for the Norse and were relentless on back-row defense with 80 digs while NKU had 67 digs.
Up Next
- NKU caps off the Duquesne Invitational tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. ET, when the team takes on Canisius.
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