HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky volleyball team won its first home match of the season, 3-1 (25-18, 25-12, 22-25, 25-13), over Robert Morris thanks in part from Reilly Briggs' career-high 20 kills. NKU now sits at 3-1 in the Horizon League and 7-6 overall, while RMU dips to 8-9 on the year and 1-4 in league play.

STATS LEADERS

• It took just 32 swings for Briggs to establish a new career high with 20 kills, surpassing the 18 she put away against Green Bay on Nov. 1, 2019. For the match, she hit .531.
• Joy Banks narrowly missed matching her career-high as she put away 11 kills, which was one shy of the 12 she registered against South Dakota.
• Abby Kanakry added eight kills on the strength of .438 hitting.
• Anna Burke was sensational on the back row, picking up 25 digs in the four-set match.
• Miranda Wucherer set the tempo with 33 assists. She added five digs, four kills and three aces.

 
FIRST SET SUMMARY   

• A blistering attack from the Norse led to a 25-18 set win.
• NKU hit .552, terminating 19 attempts with just three errors in 29 attacks.
• Brinkmann and Briggs both notched four kills while hitting .800 and 1.000, respectively, with Brinkmann contributing a solo block.
• Wucherer, Banks and Kanakry also tallied three kills each as seven Norse registered a termination.
• Burke scooped up seven digs in the stanza as well.

 
SECOND SET SUMMARY   

• On Wucherer's serve, the Norse reeled off the first five points and ran the lead out to the final score, 25-12.
• Northern Kentucky continued its torrid hitting pace, terminating at a .619 clip with another 14 kills and just one miscue.
• Strong Norse defense limited the Colonials to a .000 hitting percent with eight kills and eight errors.
• Briggs went 4-for-4 in kills and added a solo block.

 
THIRD SET SUMMARY 

• Robert Morris scored the first two points of the set on kills by Alyssa Hudak, but Northern Kentucky used three kills from the left arm of Briggs plus two terminations from Natalie Hardig and one from Banks to pull ahead, 6-2, and force an RMU timeout.
• The Colonials fought back, tied up the frame several times and eventually pushed ahead 14-12 to force a Norse timeout.
• RMU pushed its lead to 18-13 and then 21-16, but NKU responded with three-straight points that resulted in a Colonials timeout.
• The Norse extended the run to 4-0 and then 5-1. However, the Colonials answered the challenge and closed the set, 25-22.
• Hitting favored RMU with a 15-13 lead in kills and 6-3 advantage in errors. NKU hit .189, its lowest of the match.

FOURTH SET SUMMARY 

• Net defense from the Norse took over to start the set, with two early stuffs helping NKU build a 7-2 lead.
• The Colonials cut the lead to three on one occasion, but the Norse ran away with a 25-13 win.
• Briggs led the way with five more kills and Sequioa Hunt added three on just five swings.
• Banks had two blocks, while Briggs and Hunt added one apiece.

 
MATCH NOTES   

• The Norse finished the match hitting .376 compared to a .153 hitting percentage by the Colonials.
• Briggs torrid pace has now reached eight matches in which she has averaged 3.6 kills per set at a .340 hitting percentage.
• NKU also had a 7-1 advantage in aces behind Wucherer's trio.
• With her 25-dig outing tonight, Burke now has six 20-plus dig efforts on the season.

 
NEXT UP 
Northern Kentucky stays home at Regents Hall for back-to-back matches against Purdue Fort Wayne and IUPUI on Oct. 8 and 9, respectively. Friday's match against the Mastodons will begin at 6 p.m., while Saturday's contest is slated for a 4 p.m. start.