UMSL Records First Ever Win over Northern Kentucky

St. Louis, Mo. – The UMSL volleyball team recorded a big win on Saturday, defeating Northern Kentucky for the first time in school history. UM-St. Louis had lost each of the previous 17 matches against NKU, but controlled the game to win 3-0 (30-21, 30-23, 30-27) and improve to 4-4 in the GLVC.

It was close early in the first game before UMSL scored five straight points to lead 10-5 for the early advantage. Another 4-1 run later in the game gave UMSL a 17-9 advantage before NKU fought back. The Norse closed to within three points a couple of times, the last at 20-17, before UMSL used another late run, scoring five straight points to win the game 30-21. In the second game, neither team could get a strong advantage, as there were eight ties in the early part of the game, the last coming at 14-14. UMSL then scored three straight points to take control and never gave up that lead the rest of the game. NKU kept the pressure on, staying within five points before UMSL scored five of the last six points in the game to win 30-23. UMSL used a 4-0 run early in game three to get the quick advantage and led by as many as six points at 16-10 before NKU battled back. The Norse closed the gap the just one point at 21-20, and trailed 22-21 when UMSL got three straight points, including a kill from Erin Denton (Crystal City, Mo./Crystal City) to lead 25-21. NKU could get no closer than two points the rest of the game as UMSL closed it out with a kill from Heather Nichols (Black Earth, Wis./Edgewood) and then got an ace on the last point of the match to clinch the win.

UMSL had a balanced attack throughout the match as Christy Trame and Erin Denton led the way with nine kills each. Claudia Medina (Las Cruces, N.M./Las Cruces) added seven kills and Sarah Eisnaugle (Newark, Ill./Newark) had six kills and three service aces. Lisa Brinker (Washington, Mo./Washington) had 27 assists and led the team with 12 digs.

UM-St. Louis improves to 7-11 on the season and is now 4-4 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. It marked the first ever win for UMSL volleyball over Northern Kentucky as NKU had won each of the previous 17 meetings between the two schools. UMSL will be at home again on Tuesday night when they host Truman State at 7:30 pm.