GREEN BAY, Wis. – Northern Kentucky volleyball claimed a runner-up finish at the 2018 Horizon League Volleyball Championship after falling to No. 1 Green Bay in three sets, 25-22, 27-25, 25-19. The Norse drop to 21-9 on the season while the Phoenix move to 20-10 with their berth into the NCAA Tournament.
First Set Summary
- NKU came out hot in the opening set thanks to strong serving runs from Bailey Western and Ashton Terrill and jumped out to an 11-6 lead. Green Bay tied the contest up at 17-17 and used back-to-back-to-back kills from 2018 Player of the Year Taylor Wolf to take a 21-18 advantage. The Phoenix then kept NKU at a three-point distance for the remainder of the frame.
- Both teams hit over .300 in the frame, with NKU hitting .319 with just two errors while Green Bay connected at a .311 clip.
- Natalie Hardig led the Norse offense with six kills on 11 swings, hitting .545. Ashton Terrill led the Norse in the back row with five digs.
Second Set Summary
- NKU rallied from behind in the second set, trailing 21-16 before kills from Miranda Wucherer and Laura Crawford forced a timeout. The Norse went on a 7-3 run to claim set point thanks to another kill from Crawford, but Wolf had another trio of straight kills to swing the lead in favor of the Phoenix and put Green Bay up 2-0.
- Crawford led the way with five kills on 10 swings, while Wucherer and Western added four each. In the back row, Terrill picked up 11 digs and Anna Brinkmann added seven.
- Green Bay hit .300 in the set, while NKU hit .192. The Norse had seven errors, six of which were by way of Phoenix blocks.
Third Set Summary
- The Phoenix controlled the third set, hitting .375 and holding the Norse to a .067 hitting percentage.
- Miscues plagued NKU as the Norse posted 10 errors, nine of them unforced.
- Haley Libs led NKU on offense with four kills on eight swings, and Brinkmann added three kills.
Norse Notes
- Libs and Hardig were named to the all-tournament team.
- Hardig paced NKU's offense with nine kills at a .316 clip and led the Norse at the net with four blocks.
- Libs and Western both posted eight kills, with Libs chipping in seven digs and two blocks while Western also had a pair of rejections.
- Crawford added seven kills on just 17 swings.
- Wucherer dished out 19 assists and had eight digs and seven kills, and Shelby Olsen had 19 assists and eight digs to go with a pair of aces.
- Terrill picked up 19 digs on defense.
Up Next
- The hope for more postseason competition is still alive, with the Norse awaiting the selection for the National Invitational Volleyball Championship. The field will consist of 32-40 teams that did not qualify for the NCAA Championship, with the first round on Nov. 29-30. The bracket will be announced on Sunday, Nov. 25.
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