CLEVELAND, Ohio – Northern Kentucky ran its winning streak to six games with a straight-set sweep of Cleveland State by identical set scores of 25-19. The win improves NKU to 18-7 overall and 14-2 in the Horizon League standings, securing a top-2 finish in the regular season and first round bye in the league tournament. CSU dips to 8-20 in all games and 6-12 in league play.

STATS LEADERS

• Reilly Briggs finished with 12 kills thanks to a .281 hitting percentage.
• Abby Kanakry terminated at a .368-clip and had nine kills.
• With 20 assists on the evening, Wucherer distributed the Norse attack.
• Brinkmann contributed eight kills and picked up a team-leading 11 digs to go with three aces.
• Allie Siefke led the Norse block with five assisted.

 
FIRST SET SUMMARY   

• It was a back-and-forth affair through the early portion before CSU jumped out to 13-9 and 15-10 advantages.
• NKU rode the arm of Brinkmann in response. With the senior at the service line, she delivered three aces and the Vikings committed three attack errors as the Norse not only erased the deficit but built a 19-15 lead.
• Northern Kentucky close out the set, 25-19.
• Briggs had four kills and Siefke had three blocks, while Brinkmann provided her three aces and a pair of kills. Wucherer orchestrated the offense with eight assists.

 
SECOND SET SUMMARY   

• Tied a five, NKU used a 10-2 run to take command of the set.
• The Vikings rallied with three-straight points, but the Norse countered with three of the next four points and went on a to another 25-19 decision.
• NKU finished with five total team blocks, including two assisted from both Siefke and Kanakry
• Briggs and Kanakry put away three terminations apiece, while Sequoia Hunt an Siefke added two.

 
THIRD SET SUMMARY 

• A 6-2 spurt by the Norse broke a 6-6 tie and pushed NKU out front, 12-8.
• Cleveland State was able to pull within two twice, but Northern Kentucky closed out the third-straight set, 25-19.
• Briggs and Brinkmann provided the fire power with five kills apiece, while Brinkmann also scooped six digs.

 
MATCH NOTES   

• With tonight's dig total, Brinkmann surpassed the 1,000 career-dig plateau. She becomes the 23^rd player in program history with 1,000 digs and is the 11^th player to join the exclusive club of 10 previous Norse to reach 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs.
• Briggs is now riding a seven-match streak with double-figure kills. The stretch extends to nine of the last 10 matches.
• NKU registered 41 kills and just 12 hitting errors, while CSU terminated 38 attacks with 21 miscues. Nine Viking errors were courtesy of the Norse block.
• Since the calendar flipped to October, the Norse have been on a roll. In addition to their current six-match winning streak, they have won 13 of their last 14 matches beginning with an Oct. 1 win at Green Bay.
• Northern Kentucky is guaranteed no worse than a second-place finish in the regular season following tonight's win. With it comes at least the No. 2 seed or better in the Horizon League Tournament, securing an opening round bye and automatic qualification into the semifinals.
• This marks the eighth year in a row in which NKU has reached at least the league tournament semifinals.

 
NEXT UP 
The final match of the regular-season is on tap for Northern Kentucky when the Norse head to Rochester, Michigan, for a 4 p.m. meeting on Saturday, Nov. 13.