FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Northern Kentucky volleyball finished runner-up at the Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational after splitting the final day of competition. The Norse dropped a close five-setter to Western Michigan (25-22, 25-23, 15-25, 23-25, 15-8) before sweeping the host Mastodons (25-15, 25-15, 25-18).
Match 1 Recap: Western Michigan 3, NKU 2
First Set Summary
- Both teams connected well offensively, with Western Michigan hitting .225 while the Norse were not far off at .220. However, a string of three-straight NKU miscues allowed the Broncos to take a 12-7 lead and the Norse were unable to close the gap for the remainder of the frame.
- NKU got within a point at 23-22, but the Broncos pulled away in the final two points to take the opening set.
- NKU's pins led the offense, with Anna Brinkmann and Laura Crawford each contributing four kills while Abby Kanakry chipped in three kills.
Second Set Summary
- The Broncos got out to an early lead in the second set, and the Norse spent the rest of the set fighting to tie the score up. NKU succeeded at the 18-18 mark and continued to keep pace until the 21-21 mark, but the Broncos used three kills to put an end to the Norse effort.
- NKU struggled to put the ball away, with 12 kills as a team while the Broncos put away 18 balls at a .308 clip.
- Crawford led the way with five kills and Natalie Hardig added three terminations with no errors on five swings.
Third Set Summary
- NKU led from the opening point and held Western Michigan to a .167 hitting percentage to claim a decisive third-set win. NKU hit .419 in the frame, led by Crawford's six kills on nine swings. Kanakry added three on six swings while Bailey Western chipped in three kills on five attempts.
Fourth Set Summary
- The Norse started out the fourth set on a 4-0 run, but the Broncos answered back with a four-point run of their own.
- The two teams went back and forth for much of the set until NKU finally pulled away to a 24-21 lead and were able to push a fifth set off a kill from Miranda Wucherer.
- Wucherer finished with four kills on eight swings in the set, while Western added three.
Fifth Set Summary
- Western Michigan sided out on 88 percent of its receptions to take the deciding set, hitting .318 while the Norse were held to .040. The Norse got within two points at the 10-8 mark, but two Norse miscues, a Bronco ace and two WMU kills ended the match in favor of the Broncos.
- Crawford had three of NKU's five kills in the frame.
Norse Notes
- Western Michigan hit .234 as a team while the Norse hit .207. WMU also had the edge in digs, 74-71, and out-blocked the Norse, 11-6.
- Crawford recorded her second-straight double-double and the 17th of her career, putting away 20 kills to go with 12 digs.
- Shelby Olsen and Wucherer both recorded double-doubles as well. Olsen dished out 32 assists and scooped up 13 digs, while Wucherer had 25 assists and 13 digs to go with eight kills.
- Brinkmann and Kanakry each hit double figures with 10 kills apiece, and Western was just shy of 10 kills with nine terminations.
- Ashton Terrill led the Norse in the back row with 17 digs.
Match 2 Recap: NKU 3, Purdue Fort Wayne 0
First Set Summary
- The Norse defense allowed Purdue Fort Wayne to convert just seven kills and held the Mastodons to a -.038 hitting percentage while cruising to the first set win. Scrappy play on both sides kept the game tied until the 6-6 mark, but the Norse went on multiple small runs to consistently build up a lead.
- Crawford hit .625 in the opening frame, putting down five kills on eight swings.
- NKU's net defense was staunch as the Norse rejected four Mastodon swings, with Brinkmann, Crawford, Hardig and Western each adding two block assists each.
Second Set Summary
- The Norse used a 10-3 run to start the second set, punctuated by back-to-back aces from Terrill, to establish an early and sizeable lead.
- Natalie Hardig had five kills on as many swings, with three of them coming in the final four points of the set. Wucherer added three kills on seven swings to go with three digs and three blocks, while Western also added three blocks.
- In a set with multiple long rallies, NKU scooped up 22 digs led by Terrill's five. Anna Burke, Kanakry, Olsen, Western and Wucherer each added three digs.
Third Set Summary
- Though the Mastodons scored the first three points of the final set, NKU answered back with a 12-1 run. Purdue Fort Wayne made a few short runs towards the end of the frame, but the Norse had built up too large of a lead.
- Hardig added five more kills on nine swings, while Brinkmann had four kills and a pair of blocks. Terrill paced the team's 21 digs with seven scoops.
Norse Notes
- The Norse held Purdue Fort Wayne to a .075 hitting percentage. The last time NKU held an opponent under .100 was on Oct. 3, 2018, when Youngstown State hit at a .079 clip against the Norse.
- Hardig led the Norse offense with 10 kills and no errors on 16 swings, good for a .625 hitting percentage. She also added three blocks.
- NKU had a staunch advantage in blocking, 11.0-2.0. Western led the charge with seven blocks, Brinkmann was one off her career best with five and Wucherer tied her career best of four.
- Terrill led the back row with 16 digs and also served up three aces for the Norse.
- Crawford finished with seven kills, and Brinkmann and Wucherer each added six kills. Wucherer also chipped in 17 assists, seven digs and three aces.
- Olsen dished out 16 assists and had seven digs.
- Crawford led the Norse with 3.75 kills per set throughout the tournament and also added 2.58 digs per set. Brinkmann averaged 2.08 kills and 1.75 digs per set.
- Western and Hardig put up strong numbers at the net, averaging 1.25 and 0.92 blocks per set, respectively.
- Crawford and Hardig were named to the all-tournament team.
Up Next
- NKU is off to the nation's capital next weekend for the Bulldog Invite hosted by Georgetown. The Norse face Stony Brook in their first match on Friday, Sept. 6 at 3 p.m. On Saturday, Sept. 7, NKU takes on Georgetown at 1 p.m. and Marshall at 5 p.m.
#NorseUp
