EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Northern Kentucky volleyball extended its winning streak to five matches with sweeps of Louisiana Tech (25-18, 25-18, 25-12) and SIUE (25-16, 27-25, 25-14) in the Cougar Classic. During NKU's match against the host Cougars, senior outside hitter
Haley Libs recorded her 1,000
th career dig and became the first player since NKU transitioned to Division I and the 10
th overall to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career.
Match 1 Recap: NKU 3, Louisiana Tech 0
First Set Summary
- NKU started the match off strong with three kills right out of the gate, attributed to Wucherer and Libs.
- The Norse kept up the pace until reaching the middle of the match where several errors allowed the Lady Techsters to come back into the match down 18-24.
- Miranda Wucherer closed out the set with the final two points. Wucherer was five-on-five on kills for the set.
Second Set Summary
- NKU kept up the pace in the second set with 19 kills, five coming from Kaelin Gentile with four more added from Libs.
- Wucherer was again efficient for the Norse with three kills on five swings, also adding 11 assists.
- Haley Libs totaled seven of NKU's 17 digs.
- The Norse offense had its most efficient set in the second, connecting at a .351 clip while holding Louisiana Tech to five kills and a .077 hitting percentage.
Third Set Summary
- NKU went on to close out the match with series of great serves by Wucherer and Libs, with six- and seven-point runs with the pair behind the service line, respectively.
- The Norse recorded only five errors for the set, and once again kept the Lady Techsters from terminating with just six kills and forced eight errors.
Norse Notes
- Libs came out strong for the Norse with her fifth double-double of the year, totaling 10 kills and 13 digs.
- Wucherer was one kill shy of recording her fourth triple-double on the year. She added 22 assists and 16 digs for the Norse, with her hitting percentage reaching .467.
- Brinkmann and Gentile both added nine kills for the Norse.
- The Norse more than doubled the Lady Techsters' kills for the match at 47-20.
- NKU also had the edge in digs, 60-47. Ashton Terrill was the third Norse with double-digit digs, with 15.
Match 2 Recap: NKU 3, SIUE 0
First Set Summary
- The Norse started to pull away from the Cougars at the 8-8 mark, when back-to-back kills from Brinkmann sparked a five-point run.
- Brinkmann continued to shine at the net to close out the set with two-straight solo stuffs on SIUE's slide attack to give the Norse set point, and Laura Crawford capitalized on the advantage with a kill to end the frame.
- Brinkmann led the team with seven kills and a .375 hitting percentage and was involved in all three of NKU's blocks for the set, while Libs added four kills and eight digs.
Second Set Summary
- The left pins led the offense once more in the second set with Libs and Brinkmann putting down five kills apiece. On defense, Terrill picked up eight digs.
- NKU's hitting efficiency dropped to .137 while the Cougars connected at a .178 clip, but the Norse held pace with SIUE throughout the game before key errors by the Cougars gave NKU the lead.
- Brinkmann once again got the Norse to a set point, which was followed up by an ace courtesy of Maddy Weber.
Third Set Summary
- The Norse completely controlled the final set, hitting .300 while allowing just five kills from the Cougars and holding the opponent to -.062 from the floor.
- NKU's offense was spread out well by Shelby Olsen with seven of the team's 10 assists and four Norse recording at least two kills.
Norse Notes
- Brinkmann had a career-high 15 kills, hitting .324 to lead the Norse, and had her third career double-double with 10 digs.
- Libs added 11 kills and 15 digs, with her 14thscoop of the match sending her into NKU's 1,000-kill/1,000-dig club. Libs is the first player to accomplish the feat since NKU transitioned to Division I, and she is the 10th player in program history to hit 1,000 kills and digs. The last two players to hit the milestone were none other than head coach Liz Hart (née Holmes), along with Tristen Dye, during their careers in 2004-07.
- Olsen added a double-double of 18 assists and 11 digs, while Terrill led the team in the back row with 18 digs.
- NKU held both its opponents under a .075 hitting percentage in the day's matches.
Up Next
- NKU finishes up its final nonconference tournament tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. CT/2:30 ET when the Norse take on Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles fell in five sets to Louisiana Tech earlier today.
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