FORT WAYNE, Ind. – It took five sets, but Northern Kentucky picked up its 13^th Horizon League win with a 26-24, 16-25, 21-25, 25-17, 15-9 decision at Purdue Fort Wayne. The Norse are now 13-2 in league play and 17-7 in all matches, while the Mastodons slide to 7-22 overall and 5-11 versus league opponents.

STATS LEADERS

• Anna Brinkmann and Reilly Briggs both terminated 16 attacks to lead Northern Kentucky offensively.
• Anna Burke picked up a match-high 22 digs and Lillian Leiner added 12.
• Katy Yopko (22) and Miranda Wucherer (18) combined for 40 assists.

 
FIRST SET SUMMARY   

• Two late spurts proved to be the difference for the Norse. Trailing 18-16, NKU scored four-straight to take the lead. Then, after PFW evened the score at 24, the Norse rattled back-to-back points to claim the set.
• NKU finished with 13 total kills with five coming off the left arm of Briggs.
• PFW tallied 15 terminations, but also committed nine errors, which were three more than the Norse.

 
SECOND SET SUMMARY   

• A slow start by NKU resulted in a 15-7 lead for PFW and the Norse calling both timeouts during that time.
• Allie Siefke broke a 5-0 run by the Mastodons, but the damage had already been done and PFW secured a 25-16 decision.
• Purdue Fort Wayne outhit Northern Kentucky, 15-6, in terminations and had one fewer error, 5-6.

 
THIRD SET SUMMARY 

• Northern Kentucky started the third set equally slow and called timeout trailing, 6-2.
• Purdue Fort Wayne scored the next point, but NKU then reeled off four-straight to pull within one.
• The Norse went on to tie the set at 11 before the Mastodons responded with a 5-0 run to regain control.
• NKU rallied to pull within a pair at 22-20. However, PFW scored three of the final four points of the set to win 25-21.
• The Norse registered 13 terminations and held the Mastodons to just 12, but four more errors by NKU proved to be the difference.
• Brinkmann and Briggs had five kills apiece in the set, while Leiner added five digs.

 
FOURTH SET SUMMARY 

• PFW jumped out to a 6-4 advantage, only to see NKU battle back and take a 12-9 lead that caused a timeout by the home team.
• Another 3-1 surge from the Norse resulted in the Mastodons calling their second timeout with NKU leading by five.
• Northern Kentucky extended its advantage to as many as eight on several occasions, including the final score of 25-17.
• While Purdue Fort Wayne registered more kills than Northern Kentucky, 12-10, it also committed significantly more errors, 9-3.
• The Norse also served up three aces in the stanza.
• Brinkmann tallied five more kills.
• Sequoia Hunt added two terminations, and both Hunt and Abby Kanakry registered a pair of block assists.

 
FIFTH SET SUMMARY 

• With the Mastodons holding an early, but slim, lead at 3-2, the Norse ran off four-straight points behind Briggs' kill, consecutive Joy Banks' terminations and an assisted block courtesy of Banks and Siefke.
• Northern Kentucky ran its lead to six points at the final tally of 15-9.
• Siefke came through with three blocks in the set to help slow PFW's attack and Burke picked up seven scoops in the stanza.
• Briggs led the offense with three terminations and was assisted by two each from both Banks and Kanakry.

 
MATCH NOTES   

• Northern Kentucky won its fifth-straight match, marking the second streak of five or more wins on the year. NKU previously won seven-consecutive from Oct. 1-19 this year.
• With eight digs today, Brinkmann is two away from 1,000-career scoops.

 
NEXT UP 
Northern Kentucky wraps up the regular-season with matches at Cleveland State and Oakland on Nov. 12 and 13, respectively.