DAYTON, Ohio – The Northern Kentucky University volleyball team fell in straight sets (16-25, 15-25, 23-25) at Wright State. The Raiders move to 3-0 while the Norse are 0-1 in a campaign that features only Horizon League competition for the teams.
STAT LEADERS
· Abby Kanakry had a team-high 11 kills, hitting .258 on the evening.
· Anna Brinkmann added 10 kills and 10 digs for her first double-double of the year and 18th of her career.
· Wucherer also registered a double-double courtesy of 24 assists and 11 scoops. She now has 22 career double-doubles.
· Ashton Terrill had a match-high 24 digs.
FIRST SET SUMMARY
· The two teams traded scoring through the early portion of the set before Wright State tallied five-straight scores to grab a 10-6 lead and force Northern Kentucky to call timeout.
· NKU rallied behind the arm of Brinkmann coming out of the timeout, pulling within a pair at 13-11.
· But, the rest of the set was all Raiders, who went on to claim a 25-16 set win.
· Northern Kentucky hit .171 in the frame, but allowed Wright State to convert at a .290 clip.
SECOND SET SUMMARY
· The second stanza followed a similar pattern as the first. After both teams traded scoring early, WSU rattled off another run to push ahead, 7-3.
· Northern Kentucky responded with the first two points out of the timeout.
· However, the Raiders pushed ahead en route to a 25-15 decision.
· The Norse saw their hitting percentage dip to .109 in the second, compared to a .271 line for the Raiders.
THIRD SET SUMMARY
· Northern Kentucky came out energized in the third set, jumping out 5-2, resulting in a Wright State timeout.
· NKU extended out to 9-5 before WSU took off on a 10-1 run.
· A response came from the Norse. Trailing, 22-15, Brinkmann came up with two kills, Reilly Briggs added one of her eight total for the match and the Raiders committed a pair of errors for a quick 5-0 run.
· Following a score from Wright State, Wucherer converted an attack and then the Norse picked up another point from a WSU error to pull within one at 23-22.
· NKU staved off one match point but couldn't complete the full comeback in a 25-23 setback.
· The Norse defense stiffened in the third, limiting the Raiders to .114 hitting. NKU hit .096.
MATCH NOTES
· The Norse had to wait 423 days since they last took the court competitively in the 2019 NCAA Championship against Michigan on Dec. 6.
· Brinkmann was also part of the last time Northern Kentucky had two players register double-doubles in the same game. She teamed with Shelby Olsen to do so on Nov. 9, 2019 against Oakland.
· The match was even statistically in terms of kills and digs, as both teams had 37 and 66, respectively. Wright State finished the match hitting at a .220 clip, while Northern Kentucky converted just .120 for the match.
NEXT UP
Northern Kentucky and Wright State will serve it up again on Tuesday in the Raiders' C.J. McLin Gymnasium. The match is slated for a 6 p.m. start.
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