YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Northern Kentucky volleyball finished up the regular season with a five-set win at Youngstown State, 25-13, 25-18, 22-25, 22-25, 15-10. The Norse move to 16-12 overall and 9-7 in Horizon League play, while the Penguins end their season at 8-21 (2-14 Horizon). The Norse tied for fourth in the League standings with UIC, and earn the No. 4 seed in the 2019 Horizon League Championship after edging UIC in the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of five sets won against the Flames compared to three for UIC.
First Set Summary
- The Norse scored the opening point on a kill by Reilly Briggs and didn't look back for the rest of the set as NKU cruised to a first-set win.
- Briggs and Anna Brinkmann both hit above .400 with three kills while Natalie Hardig and Abby Kanakry had two kills. Ashton Terrill had nine digs to lead the back row. The Norse had four blocks, with two each from Briggs, Hardig and Bailey Western, which helped keep Youngstown State hitting .056 in the frame.
Second Set Summary
- NKU started the set on a 5-0 run, setting up NKU's lead for the remainder of the frame. The Norse led by as many as 11 points in the set.
- Youngstown State came up with some strong defensive plays at the net, blocking four NKU attacks in the later part of the set. The Norse hit .194 in the frame, while the Penguins hit .188.
- Briggs added three more kills, as did Laura Crawford. Terrill picked up another four digs in the back row and the Norse also added points from the service line with four aces.
Third Set Summary
- The third frame was a tighter contest as the Penguins held close with the Norse in the beginning of the set and used back-to-back aces to tie the match up at 16-16. Youngstown State took the lead at 20-19 and went on to finish out the set with the lead.
- Crawford and Kanakry both put away three kills while Terrill picked up 10 digs and served up a pair of aces.
Fourth Set Summary
- NKU used a four-point run, which included two aces from Brinkmann, to pull ahead, 9-6. The Penguins later used a pair of aces to tie the set at 18-18, and took the lead at 20-19 after a serve trickled off the tape for another ace. Youngstown State used the momentum to push a fifth set.
- The Norse only committed three hitting errors, but struggled to convert attacks into kills with 10 terminations. The Penguins put away 18 kills at a .382 hitting percentage to fuel the set win.
Fifth Set Summary
- The Norse were able to use a 5-1 run to pull ahead, 8-4, holding the advantage halfway through the deciding set.
- NKU kept its advantage through the close of the match as a YSU service error was the final point.
- The Norse hit .312 in the final frame, putting away seven kills and committing just two errors on 16 swings. Crawford had three of NKU's seven kills, while Brinkmann and Kanakry each added two.
Norse Notes
- The Norse had 11 aces in the victory while committing just four service errors. Terrill led the way with four while Brinkmann added three.
- NKU hit .217 in the match and held the Penguins to a .193 hitting percentage. The Norse had a 14-11 advantage in blocks, but the Penguins narrowly out-dug NKU, 75-73.
- Brinkmann and Olsen both posted their second double-doubles of the weekend, with Brinkmann registering 13 kills and 15 digs while Olsen had 20 assists and 12 digs.
- Crawford added 11 kills, eight digs and three blocks, while Kanakry had 10 kills at a .375 clip and four blocks.
- Briggs chipped in eight kills and five blocks, and Hardig led the Norse at the net with six blocks.
- Terrill added 28 digs and four assists to her quartet of aces.
Up Next
- The Norse have earned the No. 4 seed in the 2019 Horizon League Volleyball Championship and will face No. 5 UIC in the second match of the tournament at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 22 in Dayton, Ohio. The lowest remaining seed between the winner of that match and the winner of the Green Bay-Oakland match will then take on No. 1 Wright State at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23, while the lowest remaining seed will face No. 2 Milwaukee at 6 p.m.
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