Northern Kentucky University Athletics

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University volleyball team will meet Missouri-St. Louis in the opening round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament this Friday at 6 p.m. (Eastern time).

The GLVC Tournament is being held at Romeoville, Ill. NKU (20-12 overall) is the No. 4 seed, while Missouri-St. Louis is the No. 5 seed. Lewis is the No. 1 seed and meets No. 8 seed Drury on Friday night. Click here for GLVC Tournament information.

The NKU/Missouri-St. Louis winner will meet either Lewis or Drury in the semifinals Saturday at 8:30 p.m. (Eastern time). The championship is set for Sunday at 3 p.m., with the winner receiving an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

QUICK REMATCH: NKU and Missouri-St. Louis played last Friday night, and the Norse rallied to defeat the Tritons in a five-set thriller in Regents Hall.

NKU rallied from a 2-1 deficit in sets and knocked off Missouri-St. Louis, which entered that match ranked 21st nationally in the NCAA Division II poll. The Norse pulled out the win by scores of 19-25, 25-14, 18-25, 25-23, 17-15.

Freshman Katie Sommer finished with 18 kills and a .467 hitting percentage to lead NKU. Shelby Buschur added 14 kills and attacked at a .407 clip for NKU, which hit .529 in the final set to knock off a nationally ranked opponent for the first time this season in nine attempts.

Noelle Peterson added 13 kills as NKU upped its lead to 19-3 in the all-time series against Missouri-St. Louis. The Tritons are now 0-10 all-time in Regents Hall.

Missouri-St. Louis is 19-7 overall and ranked 25th nationally in this week's NCAA Division II poll. The Tritons, however, lost three consecutive matches to end the regular season.

A YEAR AGO IN THE GLVC TOURNEY: On Nov. 13, 2009, Emily Levy and Katy Hernandez each collected 11 kills as fifth-seeded Rockhurst avenged an early-season loss to fourth-seeded NKU with a 25-20, 25-19, 15-25, 25-20 win against the Norse at Romeoville, Ill. Maggie McGovern added 10 kills for the Hawks, who limited NKU to a .117 hitting percentage.

Kim Nemcek finished with 16 kills, 14 digs and six blocks for NKU. Noelle Peterson added 14 kills for the Norse, and teammate Kelly Morrissey collected 11 kills. Jenna Schreiver dished out 47 assists served up three aces for NKU.