DAYTON, Ohio – Northern Kentucky volleyball saw an incredible 2022 season come to a close Sunday afternoon inside C.J. McLin Gymnasium in the championship match of the Horizon League Tournament as top seeded Wright State downed the Norse, 3-0.
No. 2 seed Northern Kentucky (18-13, 15-3 Horizon) was searching for revenge against conference rival Wright State (28-3, 18-0 Horizon) as the Raiders had bested the Norse twice earlier this regular season. Set one featured a closely contested battle as was expected between these programs, until WSU generate a 5-1 scoring run to hold down a 14-7 lead. The Norse managed to come as close as only three points behind as the Raiders claimed the opening game at 25-18. The second set of this contest saw NKU holding a 12-11 lead after capitalizing on WSU errors, an
Anna Burke ace and a kill from
Skyy Smith. Wright State, fueled by the momentum of their home crowd, managed to create small scoring runs to ultimately win the set at 25-20 over the Norse. The final set of this championship matchup was even tighter than the previous two, as. 6-1 scoring run from Northern Kentucky gave the Norse a 17-15 advantage. The Raiders quickly flipped the script on the Norse, posted multiple late scoring runs of their own and sealed off the title win at 25-23 overall.
TOP NORSE
NKU TAKEAWAYS
- Northern Kentucky's 2022 was certainly a memorable one, and the Norse after now making the Horizon League Championship twice in-a-row will look to regroup and claim that title in 2023.
- Anna Brinkmann and Abby Kanakry each were named to the 2022 Horizon League Volleyball All-Tournament Team as well.
- Yopko posted a double-double against the Raiders with 15 assists and 11 digs. This was her fifth double-double of the year.
- Wright State came out firing during multiple points in this match, totaling six service aces compared to NKU's one. WSU also posted 49 kills as a team, compared to the Norse only totaling 34.
- Briggs continued her climb to 1,000 career kills with 7 in the match, and currently sits at 935 overall.
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