Volleyball set for quick trip to NKU for Saturday matchup

Saturday, October 21

Highland Heights, KY / Regents Hall

4 PM

Wright State University

Northern Kentucky

Photo by: Joseph Craven

Volleyball set for quick trip to NKU for Saturday matchup

10/20/2023 2:45:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

DAYTON — The Wright State volleyball team makes the short trip south on Saturday afternoon to take on Northern Kentucky. The Raiders and Norse will get underway at 4 p.m. and fans can follow the action via live stats.

MATCH INFORMATION
Saturday, October 20 - at Northern Kentucky - 4 p.m. - Live Stats

LAST TIME OUT
Wright State tallied its third straight Horizon League sweep on Tuesday night as the Raiders downed visiting Youngstown State in three sets. Wright State and Youngstown State battled through a back-and-forth first set that the Raiders took 27-25 before the hosts grabbed 25-16 and 25-22 set wins to complete the sweep. The Raiders finished the night with 53 kills and a .242 hitting percentage while Youngstown State hit .177 but ended the match with just 33 kills. Aaliyah Byers led all players with a match-best 13 kills while Sam Ott added 12 kills and Reilly Zegunis finished with 10 kills of her own. Katie Meyer passed out 44 of the Raiders' 47 assists while Jenny Wessling had a match-high 20 digs and Callie Martin was also in double figures with 11 digs. Wright State tallied eight service aces in the win, including three from Andrea Bortulin and a pair from Meyer.

FREQUENT FOES
Wright State and Northern Kentucky meet Saturday for the 13th time since the start of the 2019 season, with the Raiders having won nine of the last 12 matchups. The sides have faced off three times in the Horizon League tournament in that time, with the two schools serving as the Horizon League's representative in the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four years. In 2019, both teams made the NCAAs (Wright State as an at-large), with the Raiders also representing the HL in Spring 2021 and 2022.

KNOW THE FOE
- Northern Kentucky comes into Saturday at 12-9 overall and 7-3 in the Horizon League, carrying a three match winning streak following a four-set win at home over RMU on Tuesday. NKU has put together a 6-2 mark at home to date compared to a 6-7 mark away from home. Joy Banks and Abby Kanakry lead NKU with 232 and 230 kills, respectively, the only two players with more than 151 total kills and the only two averaging more than three kills per set (Banks 3.14 kills/set & Kanakry 3.11 kills/set). Torie Houston has passed out 422 assists while Katy Yopko has 365 assists of her own. Anna Burke leads the team with a 4.95 digs/set average (366 total digs) and Banks is the only other player with over 200 digs (225, 3.04 digs/set).

FIFTH YEAR FAVES
Graduate students Megan Alders and Callie Martin sit atop nearly all of Wright State's offensive categories, including kills (Alders 252, Martin 226), kills per set (Alders 3.23, Martin 2.94). The pair also pace the Raiders in total points and points per set while having logged the most attack attempts on the roster.