DePaul Falls Short in Five-Set Bout with Northern Kentucky

Friday, September 2

Bowling Green, Ohio

4:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

0-5,0-0Big East

Northern Kentucky

1-4,0-0Horizon

Northern Ky.

DePaul

DePaul Falls Short in Five-Set Bout with Northern Kentucky

9/2/2022 7:08:00 PM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Blue Demons come up short despite winning the first set handily

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – In a seesaw, back-and-forth affair on Friday night, DePaul came up just short as Northern Kentucky topped the Blue Demons 3-2 in game two of the Falcon Invitational. Despite winning set one handily, DePaul pressed for the remainder of the match and could not secure the victory.

Set scores of the match were: 25-14, 21-25, 29-27, 18-25, 14-16.

In a balanced attack for the Blue Demons, Jill Pressly led the way once again with 17 kills and eight digs.

Freshman Taylor Underwood totaled a career-high 13 kills on the outside while Aly Kindelberger matched a personal best with 12 kills in addition to five blocks.

Ashley Cudiamat notched 29 assists and 12 digs with setting counterpart Maggie Jones dishing out 20 assists and picking up 13 digs. Rachel Krasowski led the Blue Demons with 17 digs and a pair of service aces.

Anna Brinkmann's 18 kills paced Northern Kentucky while libero Anna Burke collected a match-high 19 digs.

SET ONE: DePaul took a 10-6 lead in the first set after a mini three-point run from a trio of Norse attacking errors gave the Blue Demons a cushion. A Maggie Jones ace capped off what turned into a 7-0 run as DePaul ran out to a commanding 14-6 advantage. The Blue Demons captured the first set 25-14 and hit a blistering .346 in the frame.

SET TWO: A back-and-forth tempo characterized the second set before the Norse used a three-point run to widen their lead to 16-13 and force a DePaul timeout. The Blue Demons responded with a 4-0 run of their own to take their first lead of the set at 17-16. Northern Kentucky rallied late to surge in front and claim the set 25-21.

SET THREE: The two teams traded points until back-to-back stuff blocks from Kindelberger and Nelson gave DePaul some breathing room at 14-11. The Blue Demons would cling to a 19-17 lead off Pressly's eighth kill of the match before the Norse would reclaim the lead 22-21 and force a timeout. The Blue Demons would stave off a pair of set points on Nelson and Kindelberger kills and fail to convert on two set points of their own before back-to-back Pressly kills would clinch the set 29-27.

SET FOUR: Northern Kentucky ran out to an 8-3 advantage and kept the Blue Demons at arm's length as a pair of DePaul attack errors pushed the score to 14-7. A three-point surge with Underwood behind the service line would bring the Blue Demons within four at 16-12. The Norse stretched the lead to 22-16 and went on to take the set 25-18 and even the match 2-2.

SET FIVE: DePaul ran out to a 4-1 advantage after a Rachel Kraswoski service ace. The Norse rallied to come within one before Pressly's 17th kill on the match put DePaul in front 8-6 and initiated the side change. A pair of NKU errors provided a three-point cushion for DePaul at 12-9 to force a timeout. Northern Kentucky went on to win three of the next four points and threaten at 13-12 and urge Coach Zidek to use a timeout. A Nelson kill on the right side handed DePaul match point but the Blue Demons could not capitalize as the Norse strung together three-consecutive sets to claim the set 16-14 and the match 3-2.

Up Next: The Blue Demons will close out their stay at the Falcon Invitational presented by Hampton Inn on Saturday, Sept. 3 with a 2 p.m. meeting with Bowling Green. Live coverage can be found on ESPN3.