The Northern Kentucky University Norse volleyball team (15-12 overall) fell at Wright State on Tuesday by a score of 3-2 (23-25, 25-17, 25-18, 21-25, 9-15).
However, the Norse moved to 13-3 in Horizon League action with two home wins later in the week to stay in second place. Northern Kentucky knocked off Purdue-Fort Wayne, 3-1 (25-21, 25-17, 28-30, 25-19) on Friday, then beat Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, 3-0 (25-17, 25-11, 25-15) on Saturday.
The Norse hit better than the Raiders on Tuesday recording 62 kills minus 24 errors on 186 attempts for a .204 hitting percentage compared to 63 kills minus 27 errors on 194 attempts for a .186 percentage. But Wright State had seven aces to one for the Norse. Wright State had 59 assists and eight blocks compared to 57 assists and 15 blocks for Northern Kentucky.
Graduate student outside hitter Anna Brinkmann led the Norse in digs and kills with 22 and 16, respectively, to go with two blocks for her 12th double-double of the season. Sophomore outside hitter Joy Banks recorded a career-high 15 kills to go with three blocks for a .265 hitting percentage. Senior outside/right side hitter Reilly Briggs followed with 15 kills, six blocks and four digs.
Junior setter Katy Yopko recorded a second straight double-double and fourth overall with 30 assists and 10 digs. Senior defensive specialist Anna Burke had 20 digs, seven assists and one ace.
On Friday against Purdue-Fort Wayne, NKU had a .257 hitting percentage recording 57 kills minus 19 errors on 148 attempts compared to .236 with 59 kills minus 24 errors on 148 attempts for the visitors. The Norse had 50 assists, 10 aces and 13 blocks compared to 56 assists, two aces and eight blocks for the Mastadons.
Banks had a .370 hitting percentage with 14 kills to go with two blocks. Brinkmann had a .275 percentage with 13 kills and eight digs. Hunt had a .333 hitting percentage with five kills and nine blocks and Yopko tallied 24 assists, seven digs and four aces.
The Norse pounded out a .435 hitting percentage with 45 kills minus eight errors on 85 attempts to go with 41 assists, nine aces and seven blocks against IUPUI. The Jaguars had 27 kills minus 14 errors on 87 attempts for a .149 percentage to go with 22 assists, three aces and two blocks.
Brinkmann served a career-high six aces in the win to go with to go with eight digs and nine kills for a .304 hitting percentage. Freshman setter Madison Tracy had 16 assists, a career-high three aces and two digs. Yopko added 22 assists and two digs.
Briggs climbed closer to 1,000 career kills with 10 to up her total to 891 overall to go with two blocks. Banks and redshirt senior Abby Kanakry had .533 hitting percentages and two blocks each. Banks had 10 kills and Kanakry added nine.
Northern Kentucky concludes the regular season with two road Horizon League games. The Norse visit Youngstown State on Friday at 6 p.m. then Robert Morris at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Men’s Soccer
The Norse (4-11-2) concluded the season with a 4-1 Horizon League loss at Oakland on Wednesday, finishing 2-6-1 in Horizon League play.
NKU outshot Oakland, 17-12 including a 12-8 advantage on goal. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Nick Lemen had eight saves for the Norse.
Junior forward/midfielder Deryn Armstrong scored his sixth goal nine minutes into the game to tie it 1-1. Junior defender Andres Zaffino had an assist. The six goals in a season are a career-best for Armstrong.