 |
ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - A fifth-set rally by Southern Indiana made the Northern Kentucky University volleyball team’s stay in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament a short one Friday afternoon. Southern Indiana closed the fifth set with a 9-4 run to defeat NKU, 25-23, 18-25, 18-25, 26-24, 15-12 in the opening round of the GLVC Tournament. The Screaming Eagles (17-14) rallied from an 8-6 deficit in the final set to beat the Norse for the first time since 2004 and advance to the GLVC Tournament semifinals. NKU, which entered the match ranked 24th nationally in the NCAA Division II poll, dropped to 27-7 and will wait for an at-large berth in the upcoming NCAA Division II Tournament. The Norse, who won a share of the GLVC East Division title last Saturday by beating Lewis, have been eliminated in the first round of the GLVC Tournament the past three years. NKU grabbed an 8-6 lead in the fifth set after a kill by Noelle Peterson, but Southern Indiana countered with a 5-1 run to take an 11-9 advantage. The Norse pulled to within 13-12 on a kill by Kristina Eisenmenger, but the Screaming Eagles finished off the first-round upset with consecutive kills from Kathi Hindman and Meg Buschman. Kelsey Wesaw led NKU with 19 kills and attacked at a .289 clip. Kim Nemcek added 14 kills, eight blocks and nine digs for the Norse, who hit .234 as a team. Eisenmenger finished with 16 kills and passed Bethany Gastright for second place on the NKU all-time kills list with 1,715. Natalie Forbes recorded 59 assists and nine digs for NKU, while Peterson added 12 kills. Courtney Bealor collected 17 kills for Southern Indiana, which hit just .172 for the match. The Screaming Eagles, however, recorded 32 blocks. |
