EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Northern Kentucky volleyball topped Austin Peay and Evansville at the Dunn Hospitality Tournament to claim the crown in the three-team tournament. The Norse went five sets against Austin Peay, 23-25, 25-20, 25-21, 19-25, 16-14; before sweeping the host Purple Aces, 25-21, 25-15, 25-21. Following the tournament,
Haley Libs was named the tournament MVP, while
Laura Crawford and
Miranda Wucherer were named to the all-tournament team.
Match 1 Recap: NKU 3, Austin Peay 2
First Set Summary
- Austin Peay and NKU were neck-and-neck during the first handful of points, but a string of errors allowed the Governors to take a 12-8 lead and establish a slight lead that they would hold onto for the remainder of the frame.
- Libs, fresh off her 30-kill, 34-dig performance at NIU, kept up her offensive pace with nine kills on 16 swings, adding six digs to her name as well.
- The Norse hit .225, which is a significant improvement from the .180 clip that they have been hitting in the first frame, but APSU hit .304 with 19 kills to take a narrow win.
Second Set Summary
- NKU balanced its offense and kept the Governors to just eight kills in the second set thanks to four blocks.
- Crawford was integral at the net with three stuffs and also added a trio of kills, while Libs added five more kills.
- Ashton Terrill racked up 11 digs in the frame and served up an ace against APSU.
Third Set Summary
- Back-to-back aces from Wucherer in the opening points gave NKU the momentum to take a slight lead, and the Norse used a series of serving runs to inch farther away from the Governors.
- Anna Brinkmann had a strong set for the Norse with three kills on five swings, and also added five digs.
Fourth Set Summary
- Austin Peay pushed back early in the fourth, leading by as many as five points in the frame. NKU had its lowest hitting percentage of the match, hitting just .119 with 11 kills.
- Libs led the NKU attack with three kills on nine swings, while Brinkmann and Terrill picked up six digs each.
Fifth Set Summary
- After another back-and-forth start to the set, Libs put down two kills and served up an ace to give the Norse a 10-6 advantage. Austin Peay made a late run thanks to some key errors by the Norse, but a block by Peytton Bagwell and Wucherer gave NKU match point, and Wucherer delivered from the service line with an ace to cap off the win.
- Libs led the offense with four kills on nine attempts, and both teams hit .192 with nine kills and four errors.
Norse Notes
- Libs led all players with 26 kills and 14 digs, marking the fourth time in her career that she has recorded more than 25 kills in a match.
- Wucherer had her third-straight triple-double with 40 assists, 10 kills and 10 digs. She also led the team on the service line with three aces and contributed two blocks.
- Brinkmann had her second-straight double-double with 10 kills and a career-best 15 digs.
- Crawford also reached 10 kills and was one off her career best in blocks, with six.
- Terrill recorded the fourth 30-dig match of her career.
- The Norse out-blocked the Governors, 11-9. Middle blockers Peytton Bagwell and Kaelin Gentile assisted on five apiece.
- NKU also had the edge in digs, 93-85.
Match 2 Recap: NKU 3, Evansville 0
First Set Summary
- Evansville kept pace with the Norse in the opening points, but a string of errors allowed NKU to take a 12-8 lead.
- Despite nine kills and a .467 hitting percentage from Evansville's top attacker, the Purple Aces hit just .179 as a team.
- Libs recorded four kills and four digs to lead NKU in both categories.
Second Set Summary
- NKU cruised to a 25-15 set win thanks to a .440 hitting percentage while holding Evansville to .167.
- The Norse balanced their offense, with Libs, Gentile and Crawford each recording three kills apiece, and all hitting above .500.
Third Set Summary
- Evansville made a valiant effort to avoid the sweep, leading for much of the third. But some key kills by Wucherer and errors by the Purple aces allowed NKU to pull ahead, 20-18, and force a timeout.
- NKU finished the frame on a 4-1 run to earn the first sweep of the season.
- Libs hit .500 with five kills and no errors, while Wucherer had three kills on eight swings.
Norse Notes
- NKU connected at a .302 clip for the match, marking the highest hitting percentage this season.
- Libs was just off a double-double with 12 kills and eight digs. She is now just 27 digs away from joining NKU's 1,000-kill/1,000-dig club.
- Wucherer and Crawford each added seven kills, with Wucherer dishing out 19 assists.
- Brinkmann chipped in five kills and tied Libs for the team lead with eight digs.
Up Next
- NKU wraps up the nonconference portion of its schedule next weekend at the Cougar Classic, hosted by SIUE on Friday-Saturday, Sept. 14-15. The Norse start the tournament off with Louisiana Tech at 10:30 a.m. CT/11:30 ET before facing the host Cougars at 6 p.m. CT/7 ET. Saturday pits NKU against Oral Roberts at 1:30 p.m. CT/2:30 ET.
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