The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Northern Kentucky
Volleyball drops 3-1 decision to Northern Kentucky
September 15 | Women's Volleyball
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SMITHFIELD, R. I. – A red-hot Northern Kentucky team tripped up Akron Saturday afternoon, as the Zips suffered a 3-1 defeat on the final day of the Hampton Invitational at Bryant University.
NKU is off to a blazing start this season in its first year of Division I competition, making a name for itself and the Atlantic Sun Conference with a 12-1 preseason tournament record. Its only loss was a five-set decision against Manhattan one week ago.
Alex Cocklin led the offensive charge for Akron (7-5) in the tournament's championship match, leading both teams with a career-high 19 kills, but it wasn't enough to offset the four Norse hitters that ended the day hitting double figures.
All-Tournament Team selection Jill Paluch also had a career night in the back row with 20 digs for the Zips. Freshman Ashley Holder came up big defensively as well, chipping in 14 and helping Akron to a 67-62 digging advantage.
The first set was nearly identical on both sides of the net, with both teams knocking down 17 kills and hitting .208. The Norse put up seven scores on eight plays to take a 13-8 lead before Akron called a timeout to adapt its game plan. The Zips chipped away until back-to-back three-point runs tied the score at 23, thanks to three kills at the hands of Cocklin.
Akron denied an NKU set point and a Paluch service ace brought the Zips to within one point of a set win, but the Norse answered with three-straight points – a solo block and back-to-back kills from their scoring leader Jenna Ruble.
After holding a brief 7-6 advantage early in the second set, UA tied the score at nine, 10 and 11, but the 8-0 NKU run that followed turned out to be the deciding factor in that period. Attack errors plagued the Zips and would ended up costing them the set, digging an 0-2 hole similar to one they saw just last weekend in their own tournament.
Akron emerged the victor in the toughest battle of the night which would be the third set, when the Zips endured a total of 15 tie scores and eight lead changes to pick up its only victory of the day. UA out-hit NKU .250 to .179 in the third.
Paiton Twitty teamed up with Cocklin for one of her five block-assists of the match (Akron would post 12 block-assists in all) to complement an ace from Tina Dimitrijevs and put the Zips up by one at 22-21. Akron would need another block from Twitty and Morgan Kuhn and a final Cocklin kill to squeak by the Norse and force a fourth set.
The Zips were not able to muster a Binghamton-like comeback this time around. Akron kept pace at the beginning of the fourth, but saw the match slowly start to slip away. Four-straight points left Akron only trailing by one at the 15-14 mark, and forced a Northern Kentucky timeout. The Norse returned with three consecutive points of their own to maintain a lead that Akron would never catch, and ride it all the way to the tournament title.
With its non-conference tournament schedule now complete, Akron will return home to James A. Rhodes Arena to open Mid-American Conference play. The Zips will host Buffalo on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. MAC action will continue Saturday, Sept. 22 when the Zips travel to Ball State for a 7:30 p.m. tilt.
