DAYTON, Ohio – Northern Kentucky volleyball suffered a five-set loss to nearby rival Wright State, falling in five sets to the Raiders, 25-22, 25-19, 17-25, 21-25, 15-17. With the setback, NKU falls to 13-6 overall and 5-3 in Horizon League play while the Raiders advance to 11-9 (3-5 HL).
First Set Summary
- Wright State came out hot in the opening set, hitting .361 while the Norse hit at a .176 clip. The Raiders went up 6-2 before NKU closed the gap and the two teams remained on pace with each other until the 10-10 mark, when the Raiders used three-straight kills and a pair of Norse errors to take the lead for good.
- Laura Crawford led the Norse with three kills and three digs, and NKU had a strong serving outing with an ace from Bailey Western, Miranda Wucherer and Maddy Weber.
Second Set Summary
- The Norse switched to a 5-1 with Shelby Olsen running the show and NKU hit .323 for its most efficient set, but the Raiders answered back with a .406 hitting percentage.
- Similar to the first set, Wright State found itself up 6-2, but the Raiders did not allow the Norse to tie the contest up and kept NKU chasing the lead.
- Western and Crawford had four kills each, with Western hitting .667 in the frame while Crawford connected at a .429 clip. Ashton Terrill and Olsen chipped in four digs each in the back row.
Third Set Summary
- NKU was on the brink of being swept, trailing 13-11 in the third before a string of WSU errors allowed the Norse to knot it up at 14-14. After the Norse took the lead at 18-15 and the Raiders called for a timeout, NKU ended the set on a 7-2 run.
- Crawford added four more kills, hitting .364, and Kaelin Gentile had four kills and no errors on five attempts.
- Terrill posted six digs in the frame and Haley Libs added five.
Fourth Set Summary
- After being mostly dormant in the first three sets, Libs went off for seven kills at a .400 clip and six digs to power NKU to a fifth set.
- The Norse took control of the set at the 10-9 mark after a crucial solo block by Western and extended to a 13-9 lead off back-to-back kills from Crawford and another from Gentile.
- Wright State made a run towards the end of the set but killed its own momentum with a service error that allowed the Norse to finish it off with two kills from Gentile and a termination from Anna Brinkmann.
Fourth Set Summary
- Wright State took the tiebreak after a thrilling deciding set that saw 10 ties and five lead changes. NKU went on a 4-0 run off a series of Raider errors and earned match point after Western and Gentile came up with an emphatic stuff block.
- After a Wright State timeout, the Raiders earned match point off two kills and a block, but Western answered back with a kill to extend the set. WSU earned match point once more with a termination and finished it off with an ace.
Norse Notes
- Libs recorded her 11th-straight double-double with 14 kills and 16 digs, also adding a pair of blocks.
- Crawford had a double-double as well, with 14 kills and 11 digs.
- Western reached 10 kills, hitting .360, and led the Norse net defense with six blocks.
- Olsen posted her fifth-straight double-double with 34 assists and 12 digs.
- Gentile hit .500 with nine kills and added five digs to her stat line.
- Terrill led the defense with 23 digs.
- Wright State terminated more balls, 68-60, and had a slightly higher hitting efficiency at .204 compared to .201 for the Norse. The Raiders also had an 11.0-10.0 advantage in blocks and a 90-84 edge in digs.
Up Next
- The Norse remain on the road next weekend, heading to Milwaukee on Friday, Oct. 19, before taking on league-leading Green Bay on Saturday, Oct. 20. First serve against the Panthers is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT/7 ET and the match against the Phoenix is set for 4 p.m. CT/5 ET.
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