FAIRBORN, Ohio – The Northern Kentucky volleyball program advanced to the next round of the Horizon League Tournament as the Norse swept Oakland 3-0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-17) in the conference quarterfinals inside McLin Gymnasium on Wright State's campus on Friday night.
The turning point of the match came in the opening set with NKU down 21-14 in the contest. The Norse went on a 5-0 run to make it 21-19, en route to a 14-5 finish overall to the set to give NKU the early victory. Northern Kentucky cruised from that point on with a tightly contested win in the second set to go with a convincing victory in the third to seal NKU a spot in Saturday's semifinals against No. 2 seeded Green Bay.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Northern Kentucky – 3, Oakland – 0
SET SCORES: 28-26, 25-21, 25-17
LOCATION: McLin Gymnasium – Fairborn, Ohio
RECORDS: NKU: 18-12 (12-6 HL) | OAK: 17-14 (11-7 HL)
MATCH NOTES
- All-Horizon League First Team selection
Joy Banks posted a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs. It was her 13th double-double of the season.
- Fellow All-League First Team member
Abby Kanakry led the Norse with 17 kills. The performance gave her 1,305 for her NKU career, a mark that ranks her 13th in program history.
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Torie Houston finished with a game-best 24 assists.
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Anna Burke led both squads with 23 digs. She has a chance to move up the ranks in school history in NKU's next match as she is just eight digs behind Kerry Lewin's 1,729 for second-most all-time in program history.
- The Norse went on a wild comeback to win a back and forth first set by a score of 28-26.
- It was another tightly contested set in the second as Oakland jumped out to a 6-1 advantage. Northern Kentucky went on a 13-8 run to tie things up at 14-14. The Golden Grizzlies got the next point, but the Norse answered with a 11-6 edge to take the second set 25-21.
- The third set was close at 10-10 before NKU ended the match with a 15-7 run, which included the Norse scoring six straight points to end the set and close out the perfect sweep.
SOCIAL HUB
NEXT UP
It's another survive and advance situation for the Norse as No. 4 NKU is set to face No. 2 Green Bay on Saturday, November 18 at 6 PM ET in the Horizon League semifinals inside McLin Gymnasium on Wright State's campus. The
match will be played in front of a national audience on ESPN+ and fans and supporters can also cheer on NKU live with
tickets available for purchase here.
FOLLOW NORSE VOLLEYBALL
Get in the game and follow Northern Kentucky's NCAA Division I women's volleyball team through
@NKUNorseVB on X,
@NKUNorseVBall on Instagram,
nkunorsevball on Facebook and
subscribe to the NKU Norse Youtube channel.
