WASHINGTON, D.C. – Northern Kentucky volleyball swept its second-straight opponent to open up the Bulldog Invitational, taking down the reigning America East champion Stony Brook. The Norse and the Seawolves battled it out in the first set, with NKU pulling through with a 29-27 win before a dominant 25-9 second set. The Norse capped off the match with a 25-17 win in the third, moving to 3-1 on the season while Stony Brook drops to 0-5.
First Set Summary
- NKU got out to an early lead, holding an 8-3 advantage off back-to-back kills from Abby Kanakry.
- However, the Seawolves fought back and tied up the contest at the 11-11 mark. NKU would not lead by more than two points for the remainder of the frame.
- The Norse fought off two Stony Brook set points and went on to hold three set points of their own before putting the frame away on kills from Anna Brinkmann and Laura Crawford.
- Brinkmann led the Norse offense with five kills, while Crawford added four kills and eight digs.
- Stony Brook was held to a .091 hitting percentage in the set.
Second Set Summary
- The Norse got out to a strong start in the second set as well, leading 9-3, but did not the Seawolves catch up as NKU followed it up with an 8-2 run.
- With a 25-9 set win, NKU held an opponent under 10 points for the first time since Nov. 10, 2018 against Oakland.
- The Norse put away 10 kills with no errors, good for a .588 hitting percentage. The Seawolves hit -.043 in the frame.
- Brinkmann and Crawford each added three kills for the Norse. NKU also served up four aces, with two from Crawford, one from Bailey Western and a set-winning ace by Shelby Olsen.
Third Set Summary
- Stony Brook came out determined in the final frame, holding multiple leads until NKU put together a seven-point run, highlighted by four points from Western, to take a 17-10 advantage.
- The two teams went point-for-point from there, but Stony Brook was unable to close the gap as the Norse took the set and match.
- NKU connected at a .324 clip for another efficient hitting performance. The Norse also added four more aces in the set, with two from Olsen, one from Brinkmann and one from Ashton Terrill.
Norse Notes
- Brinkmann and Crawford each had 10 kills to lead the Norse. Crawford was just shy of a double-double, with nine digs, while Brinkmann added seven scoops.
- Western hit .500 en route to nine kills. The middle blocker also had six blocks and served up a pair of aces.
- Olsen dished out 15 assists and recorded a match-high three aces.
- Miranda Wucherer chipped in 22 assists and had eight digs in the win.
- Terrill led all players with 12 digs.
- NKU hit .290 for the match and held Stony Brook to a .117 hitting percentage. The Norse also out-blocked the Seawolves, 9.0-4.5, and had a 48-38 advantage in digs.
- The Norse had a strong outing from the service line with nine aces, while Stony Brook was held to a pair of aces.
Up Next
- NKU faces host Georgetown tomorrow at 1 p.m., followed by a match against Marshall at 5 p.m. The Georgetown match will be streamed via a paid broadcast on HoyaVision.
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