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Volleyball: Double Sweep v.s. Northern Kentucky

Volleyball | Photo by Diana Jaber | The Wright State Guardian

Volleyball | Photo by Diana Jaber | The Wright State Guardian


The Women’s volleyball team swept Northern Kentucky 3-0 in matches on Monday and Tuesday at home. The team has not only won all four of their games so far this season, but has yet to drop a set against any opponent. 

The Players to watch over the weekend were Northern Kentucky’s attacking duo of Abby Kanakry and Reilly Briggs with 34 kills over both games. Where for WSU, Libero Jenna Story with 35 digs and Setter Lainey Stephenson with 47 assists made the difference. 

Game One  

The game started even with two errors for each team, and continued to a 6-6 score line. Two kills from Teddy Sauer and a service ace from Ellee Ruskaup got through the NKU defense, and forced a timeout at 10-6. 

After the timeout, a saved point from Jenna Story and kills from Sam Wolf and Nyssa Baker extended the Raider lead to 18-13, forcing another timeout. The Raiders fought hard for every point, with digs and blocks securing their defense and forcing errors on NKU’s side, as a kill from Nyssa Baker won the 25-16 set. 

The Norse were disorganized after losing set one so dominantly, with a preventable error and a service ace giving WSU a quick 2-0 lead.  NKU punched back with three, but smart court vision from Celia Powers and kills from Teddie Sauer gave Wright State five in a row, forcing a timeout at 7-3. 

Northern Kentucky drew relatively even after the timeout, but Wright State were still able to extend their lead to 16-9. 

A long rally going Wright State’s way and a duo of kills from Megan Alders pushed the Raiders to set point, and Teddie Sauer finished it at 25-15. 

The Norse hit hard after losing set two, forcing a Raider timeout at 5-2.  After the timeout, a series of errors from NKU’s defense and kills from Sam Wolf gave the Raiders back the lead at 11-10, and they continued to lead. 

Three blocks from the Raider defense to a 19-13 lead, as they looked to close the game. But, NKU refused to go down without a fight, as kills from the Norse’s Abby Kanakry and Anna Brinkman brought the set to 23-22 after a very hard-fought point. 

A timeout from Coach Matters and a kill from Nyssa Baker secured the win for the Raiders 25-23, as they continued their season without dropping a set. 

Game Two 

The teams drew 2-2 at the start, but early kills from Celia Powers, Sauer, and baker gave Wright State a 8-3 lead. A pair of blocks from Megan Alders and Sauer broke NKU’s offense, and forced a timeout at 11-4. 

The Raiders never looked back, pushing their lead to 20-7 with more blocks from Alders and Sauer.  NKU fought back with a service ace and forcing WSU errors, but a service error from the Norse paired with a kill from Alders finished the set 25-11. 

A pair of kills from NKU’s Reilly Briggs and a service ace from Raider Sam Wolf split the teams at two once again, and the tie continued to six. 

Two hard serves from Ellee Ruskaup and attack errors from the Norse gave the Raiders a 10-6 lead, forcing a timeout for NKU to try and regroup. But, service aces from Ruskaup and Lainey Stephenson as well as more forced errors gave WSU an edge, with the Raiders scoring six in a row for a 20-9 lead. 

The Norse started a comeback, with blocks and kills from Abby Kanakry getting them to 18, but a dig from Powers followed by a kill from Grace Hauck gave the Raiders set two 25-18. 

A kill from Briggs started the scoring in NKU’s favor, but another service ace from Ruskaup followed by a pair of kills from Lainey Stephenson forced an NKU time-out at 8-4. 

NKU fought desperately to try and stop a repeat of the first two sets, but hard-hit serves from Ruskaup and Stephenson haunted them all set, bringing the score to 19-9. 

Points from the Norse’s Briggs and Kanakry tried to bring the game back, but smart court vision from Stephenson with an NKU error cemented the win 25-17. 


Noah Kindig

Sports Reporter

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