Keyaira Lankheit posted a career-high 13 kills as the Northern Kentucky University volleyball team took a five-set upset thriller over Horizon League front runner Cleveland State on Tuesday night.
Keely Creamer led the Norse (8-11, 3-4 Horizon) offense with 17 kills on a team-best .394 hitting percentage, while two NKU players picked up double-doubles on the night. Haley Libs posted 15 kills and a career-best 15 digs, while Taylor Snyder dished out 57 assists and picked up 10 digs. Mel Stewart notched 26 digs, marking her third consecutive match with 20+ digs.
The Vikings (16-4, 5-1 Horizon) were led by Grace Kauth and Christina Toth, who posted 15 kills each, while Alexisi Middlebrooks added nine kills and nine blocks as Cleveland State suffered its first Horizon League loss of the season.
Set 1 remained tight until two-straight CSU service aces by Dayna Roberts gave the Vikings an 8-5 lead. The Norse were unable to battle back, as a 5-0 Vikings run stretched the lead to 17-11. Kauth finished with six of CSU’s 18 kills on the set as the Vikings were able to close out the first set, 25-17.
Set 2 had a different feel when NKU used an early 6-1 run to lead, 8-3. Back-to-back aces by Kauth cut the Norse lead to two points at 12-10, but another 5-0 spurt by the Norse, including three kills from three different players, gave NKU an 18-12 advantage. The Vikings battled back again with a 6-1 run to tie the set at 22, but the Norse put down the final three points, ending on a block from Snyder and Creamer, to take the set, 25-23.
After CSU took a tight Set 3, 25-22, the Norse came out on an 11-2 run to take an early 12-4 lead in Set 4. NKU never relinquished the early lead, getting four kills each from Creamer and Libs before closing out the stanza, 25-16.
The Vikings grabbed a 7-5 lead in the deciding fifth set before the Norse struck out on a 4-0 run, bookended by kills from Tristen Simpson and Creamer, to take a 9-7 advantage. Cleveland State would tie the match up again, as the teams traded point-for-point to a 13-13 score before Lankheit brought it home for the Norse with a kill and a block to seal a 15-13 victory.
The Norse will look to continue their winning ways on Friday when they take on Oakland at 7 p.m. in Regents Hall to conclude the three-match home stand.
NORSE NOTES
· NKU improved to 3-0 on the year in five-set matches, having previously defeated SIUE and Green Bay in five earlier this year. Over the past two seasons, NKU has an 8-1 record when going the distance.
· Mel Stewart’s strong defensive performance pushed her past Anna Prickel (2010-13) and Chelsea Clark (2007-10) to take sixth on the all-time digs list with 1,273.
· The win pushed NKU ahead in the all-time series against Cleveland State, 3-2, and avenged a straight-set defeat back in 2013.
From NKU Athletics