DAYTON – The Wright State volleyball team rallied from an early deficit but was unable to climb all the way back as the Raiders fell in five sets to visiting Northern Kentucky on Saturday afternoon inside McLin Gymnasium.
 
The Raiders (8-5, 0-1 HL) dropped the opening two sets, 25-18 and 28-26, before back-to-back set wins of 25-22 and 25-18 to force the deciding set. Northern Kentucky (5-5, 1-0 HL) tallied the first five points of the fifth set on the way to a 15-12 set and match win.
 
Nyssa Baker finished with a team-leading 15 kills for the Raiders, while Celia Powers recorded 12 kills of her own and both Teddie Sauer and Sam Ott added 10 each. Sauer added five blocks, wile Baker and Powers tallied four each, while Lainey Stephenson passed out 52 of Wright State's 62 assists. Five different Raiders finished with double digit digs, paced by Jenna Story's 22, while Powers had 21 of her own. Stephenson (17), Ellee Ruskaup (14) and Jenny Morey (11) also were in double figures.
 
Wright State ended the night with a .165 team hitting percentage, aided by a .500 hitting percentage in the fourth set, while Northern Kentucky hit .200 as a team for the match. Anna Brinkmann finished with a match-leading 18 kills for the Norse, while Reilly Briggs added 16 for the visitors.
 
The Raiders now get set to hit the road for their next three matches, beginning Thursday at UIC before a visit to Milwaukee on Friday night. Wright State closes the trip with a Sunday afternoon matchup at Green Bay. All three matches are slated to be streamed on ESPN+.