Press Release courtesy of Northern Kentucky Athletics.
Northern Kentucky volleyball put one more in the win column with a four-set win over Horizon League foe Youngstown State, 22-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-22. With the win, NKU moves to 6-6 overall and 2-1 in League play while the Penguins drop to 7-10 (0-3 HL). Additionally, the victory marks the 1,000th win in NKU’s 42 years of program history.
The Quote
“We’re thrilled to have gotten the program’s 1,000thwin. This is an outstanding accomplishment by all of the current and former players and coaches. We’re all proud to be a part of the success this program has achieved. Haley (Libs) and Kaelin (Gentile) played outstanding volleyball tonight. They did a great job terminating the ball. As a team, we did a better job in areas we worked on in practice this week.” – Head Coach Liz Hart
First Set Summary
- The Norse never held a lead in the opening set as the Penguins played a clean first game with minimal errors. YSU made just four miscues, two of which came in the final seven points, which allowed the Norse to post a brief run and face four set points before eventually falling, 25-22.
- NKU’s offense was well distributed, with no player taking more than nine swings. Haley Libs led the team with five kills on nine swings to go with five digs, while Georgia Childers, Drew Hendricks and Kaelin Gentile each recorded three kills.
- Ashton Terrill contributed four digs in the back row.
Second Set Summary
- NKU was statistically similar in the second set, with a varied offensive selection while Libs led the defense with five more digs and Terrill added four digs.
- The Norse were more efficient, hitting .333, and made more stops at the net with three blocks, led by Childers with two rejections.
Third Set Summary
- While the first two sets were marked by a team taking a lead and holding onto control, the third set proved to be more balanced as the teams traded advantages throughout.
- Libs posted seven kills on 14 swings, while Hendricks had five terminations on nine attempts.
- Defensively, nearly every Norse recorded a dig, led by Terrill, Shelby Olsen and Laura Crawford with four apiece.
Fourth Set Summary
- YSU made a push for a fifth set late in the fourth frame, trailing by five before coming within a point at the 23-21 mark before back-to-back kills from Crawford and Gentile capped off the victory.
- Libs had another terrific set with six kills on 12 attempts, along with four digs. Led the back row with six digs, while Terrill once again posted four digs as the Norse had their best defensive set of the match with 25 scoops.
Norse Notes
- Libs posted her fourth 20-kill performance of the season and 14th of her career with 21 kills, along with 15 digs. The outside had the highest hitting percentage on the team as well, at .395.
- Olsen had her second-straight double-double with 50 assists and 15 digs, along with two aces.
- Hendricks and Gentile both had career nights for the Norse. Hendricks bested her kills mark by one, with 13, while Gentile surpassed the 10-kill threshold for the first time in her career, registering 11 terminations at a .346 clip.
- Terrill led the back row with 16 digs to go with three assists, while Crawford added 10 digs.
- As a team, NKU hit .253 while Youngstown State hit .221. The Norse had 76 digs compared to 69 for the Penguins, but YSU held the edge on serving (7-4) and blocking (9-5).
- NKU moves to 5-0 all-time against Youngstown State.
Up Next
- NKU remains on the road to take on Oakland, which posted a sweep over Wright State in tonight’smatchup, tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET. The match will be broadcast on ESPN3 with streaming available on computers, tablets and smart phones through WatchESPN and the ESPN App.
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