HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky volleyball team picked up a three-set sweep of Milwaukee (25-16, 25-22, 26-24) to improve its winning streak to five-straight matches and provide its seniors with a win on senior day. NKU is now 8-3 on the season and 7-3 in Horizon League matches. Milwaukee dips to 4-6 overall and in league play.
 
Northern Kentucky honored senior student-athletes Peytton Bagwell, Kaelin Gentile and Ashton Terrill, as well as senior manager Claire Kohler, in a pre-match ceremony.
  
STATS LEADERS   

• A 14-kill, 10-dig double-double from Anna Brinkmann led the way for NKU. The junior outside hitter also delivered four aces and hit .342 for the match.
• Reilly Briggs used a .370 hitting percentage to terminate 11 kills.
• Both Gentile and Abby Kanakry contributed nine kills to the Norse cause, while Gentile and Bagwell added four block assists to lead NKU at the net.
• Terrill registered a match-high 19 digs from the back row.
• Miranda Wucherer had 22 assists to lead all setters.
   

FIRST SET SUMMARY   

• Highly efficient offense paced Northern Kentucky en route to a 25-16 win in the first set, as it put away 18 kills with just three errors at a .405 hitting percent.
• The score was tied at both 1-1 and 2-2 before the Norse methodically pulled away.
• Kanakry led the way, terminating six balls on seven attempts (.857).
• Briggs was nearly as efficient with five kills on nine swings (.556).
• Defensively, the Norse held the Panthers to .143 hitting with only eight kills.

 
SECOND SET SUMMARY   

• Set No. 2 looked vastly different, with Milwaukee racing out to a nine-point lead, 15-6, and Northern Kentucky needing a big rally to come away with a 25-22 win.
• The Norse comeback started small with a trio of 2-point rallies to get within five at 18-13.
• With Milwaukee then leading 20-14, NKU reeled off four-straight scores on Wucherer's serve, which was then followed by a 6-0 run with Brinkmann at the service line to put Northern Kentucky out front, 24-21.
• Gentile sparked the offense and provided a surge of energy with four kills on five swings. It was only fitting that she finished off the set with her final termination.
• Brinkmann had six kills and two aces.
• The Norse attacking percent remained high at .300, while the Panthers posted their best hitting percent at .213.

 
THIRD SET SUMMARY 

• The final set featured 12 ties and five lead changes, and it took the Norse extra points before securing a 26-24 win in the frame.
• Milwaukee erased Northern Kentucky's 24-21 lead to force extra points, but Gentile answered with a kill to give the Norse match point and the Panthers' next attack landed out of bounds.
• Both teams converted 15 kills in the frame, but NKU committed just five errors compared to seven for Milwaukee.
• Brinkmann, Briggs and Gentile were on target in the set, combining for 11 of the team's kills and committing zero errors.
• Terrill provided a spark from the back row with nine digs.

 
MATCH NOTES   

• Northern Kentucky finished the match with a .311 hitting percentage, while limiting Milwaukee to just .175.
• NKU put up a 6.0-2.0 advantage in blocks.
• Brinkmann, Briggs, Gentile and Kanakry combined for 43 of NKU's 47 kills, hitting at a .381 clip between them.
• Brinkmann's double-double is her sixth of the season. Across the two matches versus the Panthers, she terminated 29 attacks and committed just three errors for a .321 hitting percentage.

  
NEXT UP 
Northern Kentucky remains at home for a pair of matches against UIC on March 15-16.