INDIANAPOLIS – Northern Kentucky volleyball snapped a five-match losing skid with a sweep of IUPUI on Sunday afternoon, 25-21, 25-18, 25-22. With the win, NKU moves to 11-11 overall and 4-6 in Horizon League action while the Jaguars drop to 6-16 (2-8 Horizon).
First Set Summary
- NKU started the match on a three-point run, followed by a three-point run from the Jaguars. After that point, NKU took the lead and kept it for the remainder of the frame. The Norse were able to string together multiple runs to build up a lead over the Jaguars and fought off a late run by IUPUI.
- The Norse hit .429 in the set, led by Anna Brinkmann with five kills and no errors on 10 swings while Abby Kanakry added four kills. Defensively, Ashton Terrill picked up five digs and Peytton Bagwell had a pair of blocks.
Second Set Summary
- The Norse kept momentum from the previous set win, starting the second set out on an 11-2 run. IUPUI was able to challenge NKU's lead by chipping away at the score, but the Norse righted the ship and went on for a seven-point advantage in the frame. Bagwell contributed to NKU's final three points, starting the set-ending run with a kill out of the middle before registering a block on each pin.
- Laura Crawford had four kills to lead the offense, and Terrill had a strong defensive set with 12 digs. Bagwell added four blocks to lead the team at the net.
Third Set Summary
- The Jaguars stabilized in the third set, looking to their outside attack to hold tight with the Norse before taking a 22-17 advantage. NKU forced an IUPUI timeout as the Norse had blocks from Bagwell and Reilly Briggs, an ace from Terrill and a kill by Natalie Hardig. Crawford and Briggs added a kill each out of the timeout to knot the score up at 22-22, and they both added another kill to go with a Crawford block to end the match on an eight-point run.
- Brinkmann and Crawford each added four kills, while Briggs posted a kill on each of her attempts. The Norse defense picked up 33 digs, led by nine from Terrill while Brinkmann had eight and Anna Burke had seven.
Norse Notes
- Both Brinkmann and Crawford finished just shy of a double-double. Brinkmann had 12 kills and nine digs, along with four blocks, while Crawford had nine kills and 12 digs.
- Terrill led the back row with 21 digs, and Burke hit double digits for the second time in her career with 10 scoops to go with a pair of aces.
- Bagwell posted seven blocks for her third-straight match.
- Shelby Olsen dished out 35 assists and picked up four digs.
- NKU hit .191 for the match while the Jaguars hit .150. The Norse also had a 10-6 advantage in blocks, a 60-55 edge in digs and had five aces to IUPUI's three.
Up Next
- NKU returns home next weekend, hosting Green Bay and UIC. The Norse face the Phoenix at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 1, before taking on the Flames at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2. Friday's match will be broadcast on ESPN3 and Saturday's will be on ESPN+.
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