The Northern Kentucky University Norse volleyball team upped its winning streak to six in a row with two Horizon League wins. The Norse are 11-11 overall and 9-2 in Horizon League play, good for third place in the standings behind Wright State (11-0) and Green Bay (10-2).
The Norse beat Cleveland State, 3-1 (25-14, 20-25, 28-26, 25-17) on Friday. NKU had 59 kills minus 26 errors on 164 attempts for a .201 hitting percentage to go with 56 assists, 10 aces and seven blocks. The Vikings had 43 kills minus 19 errors on 155 attempts for a .155 hitting percentage.
Senior Anna Burke had 28 digs to to over 1,000 for her career and four assists. Redshirt senior middle blocker/opposite hitter Abby Kanakry had season-high 17 kills in a .359 hitting percentage and senior outside/right side hitter Reilly Briggs had 15 kills for a .324 hitting percentage to go with four blocks. Graduate student outside hitter Anna Brinkmann added five aces and freshman setter Madison Tracy had 29 assists.
The Norse came back to beat Oakland, 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-15, 25-18). NKU had 56 kills minus 17 errors on 139 attempts for a .281 hitting percentage compared to 42 kills minus 27 errors on 137 attempts for a .109 percentage for the Grizzlies.
The Norse also had 11 blocks, 51 assists and five aces compared to five blocks, 37 assists and two aces for Oakland. Sophomore middle blocker Sequoia Hunt tied a season-high with six blocks to go with four kills and two digs for the Norse.
Brinkmann had her 10th double-double of the season with 13 kills and 13 digs to go with four blocks. Tracy had her third straight match with at least 25 assists with 28 to go with two aces and seven digs. Kanakry had 13 kills and one block for a .286 hitting percentage and sophomore outside hitter Joy Banks had 11 kills and one block for a .381 hitting percentage.
The Norse hit the road for two games over the weekend. NKU plays at Milwaukee on Friday at 7 p.m. (eastern), and at Green Bay on Saturday at 5 p.m. (eastern).
Women’s Soccer
The Norse (2-10-2) ventured to Green Bay and downed the host Phoenix, 2-0, to improve to 2-6-1 in Horizon League action. They have seven goals this year.
NKU outshot Green Bay, 22-13 including a 10-3 advantage on goal and had nine corner kicks to one for the Phoenix. Graduate Mimi Stines and junior Mickayla Kowalski once again split halves at goalkeeper for the Norse. Stines made three saves.
The Norse scored both their goals on penalty kicks. Sophomore defender Lydia Self scored with 15 minutes, 36 seconds left in the first half. She scored for the second consecutive game for her second goal this year and sixth of her career.
Sophomore forward/midfielder Meghan Carl added her second goal with 3:40 left in the first half. That’s Carl’s first career goal for the Norse.
NKU plays host to Wright State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to conclude the season.
Men’s Soccer
The Norse (4-9-2) tied the Milwaukee Panthers, 2-2 to move to 2-5-1 in Horizon League play for seven points on its Senior Day.
Milwaukee outshot NKU, 11-6 including 8-4 on goal. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Nic Lemen had four saves for the Norse.
Milwaukee jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the game’s first 30 minutes. But sophomore midfielder Simon Knuewe scored his third goal of the season with 8:41 seconds left in the first half and freshman forward Hunter Sekelsky had the assist. Knuewe has three goals this year good for third overall for the Norse this season.
The Norse tied the game less than two minutes into the second half. Graduate defender Sam Slocum scored his first career goal for the Norse and junior defender Andres Zaffino had his first career assist.
The Norse travel to East Tennessee State for a 3 p.m. game Tuesday. They conclude the regular season with a Horizon League game at Oakland on Wednesday at 2 p.m.Â
Women’s Tennis
The Norse completed the fall season at the ITA Ohio Valley Regionals in Knoxville, Tennessee from Wednesday through Sunday.
In singles action, graduate student Elizabeth Rozin and junior Sylvia Gray won two games. Rozin knocked off Dayton’s Neena Katauskas, 6-3, 1-6 (10-8) then Austin Peay’s Yu-Hua Cheng, 6-2, 6-3 before losing to Tennessee’s Ashtin Hara, 6-4, 4-6 (10-8). Gray beat Middle Tennessee State’s Lilly-Sophie Schmidt, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 then Dayton’s Natalie Osiecki as the result of an injury.
In doubles play, sophomore Ashlee Fisk and Rozin beat Indiana’s Lauren Lemonds and Xiaowei Hu, 8-6. Gray and sophomore Sonia Tandelova beat Dayton’s Elizabeth Hamilton and Laura Greb before losing 8-1 to the Indiana University-Purdue University tandem of Meghan Bernard and Samantha Hayward.
Women’s Golf
The Norse concluded the fall season taking seventh out of nine teams in the Dayton Flyer Invitational at the NCR Country Club in Kettering, Ohio shooting a two-day total of 656.
Junior Abby Cook and sophomore Reagan Nolan led the way tying for 17th overall with two-day totals of 160. Cook shot 77 on the first day and had two birdies in the tournament. Nolan shot 79 on the second day leading the Norse with 19 pars and added one birdie.