Northern Kentucky University Athletics

Box score

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Sarah Drennen and Shelby Buschur combined for nine kills in the fifth set Tuesday night as Northern Kentucky University held off upset-minded Bellarmine.

Drennen finished with 22 kills – five in the fifth set - and 16 digs as No. 14 NKU pulled out a 25-22, 19-25, 25-19, 20-25, 15-10 victory in Knights Hall. Buschur added 12 kills, four of those in the final frame, and collected five blocks as the Norse improved to 21-3 overall, 11-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Drennen, a senior outside hitter from Woodstock, Ill., also attacked at a .436 clip for the match. She also upped her career total to 945 kills. Drennen just missed equaling her career-high of 23 kills, which she established on Oct. 2, 2009, at Rockhurst.

NKU junior libero Kylee Tarantino became the 15th player in school history to reach 1,000 career digs. The Mount Notre Dame product collected her 1,000th career dig during the third set as NKU pulled out a 25-19 win.

Tarantino finished with 25 digs Tuesday night – 10 in the fifth set - and now has 1,010 in her career.

NKU jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the fifth set as Drennen and Buschur each hammered down four kills early in the stanza. Buschur capped the victory by converting an attack at match point, wrapping up the Norse's season sweep against Bellarmine (11-10 overall, 5-9 GLVC).

Junior setter Jenna Schreiver hit .357 with six kills, and she dished out 53 assists. Schreiver also added eight digs and three blocks.

Noelle Peterson recorded 14 kills for NKU, which was limited to a .223 hitting percentage. The NKU defense, however, totaled 84 digs. Joining Tarantino and Drennen in double-figure dig totals were Kelly Morrissey (14) and Anna Prickel (13).

Morrissey also served up four aces, while Tarantino added two aces. NKU is now 59-10 all-time against Bellarmine.

NKU plays at No. 23 Indianapolis at 7 p.m. Friday. Indianapolis is tied for first place with Southern Indiana in the GLVC East Division with identical 12-2 records.

NKU's last road victory over the Greyhounds came on Oct. 29, 2004, when the Norse pulled out a five-set decision in the Ruth Lilly Center. Since then, NKU is 0-5 against Indianapolis on the road.

The Norse did not play at Indianapolis last season, but NKU dropped matches in the Ruth Lilly Center in 2005, '06, '07, '08 and '09.

The Norse wrap up the road trip Saturday with a match against Saint Joseph's at 3 p.m.