Northern Kentucky University Athletics

Box score

INDIANAPOLIS - For the second straight Friday night, Northern Kentucky University found itself involved in a showdown with a nationally ranked team from the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division.

And just like a week ago, NKU ended up on the wrong end of the scoreboard as No. 23 Indianapolis knocked off the 14th-ranked Norse, 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 25-22, in the Ruth Lilly Center. Indianapolis avenged an early-season loss at NKU and improved to 17-6 overall, 13-2 in the GLVC.

NKU dropped to 21-4 overall, 11-4 in the GLVC. Last Friday night, No. 20 Lewis had rallied for a five-set victory over the Norse in Regents Hall. That setback a week ago, coupled with the loss to Indianapolis, all but eliminated NKU from possibly earning the No. 1 seed in the upcoming GLVC Tournament.

The Norse now trail both Indianapolis and Southern Indiana by two games in the East Division standings with just three matches remaining. And Lewis, which is 12-3 in the GLVC, owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with NKU.

On Friday night, Kristina Hefferan collected 15 kills as Indianapolis continued its home-court dominance against NKU in the Ruth Lilly Center. The Greyhounds have beaten the Norse six consecutive times at home, with NKU's last road victory in the series coming on Oct. 29, 2004.

NKU still owns a 36-13 lead in the all-time series against Indianapolis. Earlier this season in Highland Heights, Ky., the Norse pulled out a five-set win over the Greyhounds.

Sarah Drennen recorded a double-double (15 kills, 12 digs) for NKU, which entered Friday's match ranked No. 2 in the NCAA Division II Midwest Region poll. Indianapolis is No. 4 in the poll, which determines the NCAA Tournament field next month.

Shelby Buschur added 14 kills and hit .480, while teammate Jenna Schreiver collected a double-double with 46 assists and 10 digs. NKU hit .248 and limited Indianapolis to a .220 hitting percentage, but the Greyhounds were able to withstand furious Norse rallies in both the third and fourth sets to pull out the win.

Indianapolis built a 23-20 lead in the third set, but NKU scored three straight points to tie the stanza. Consecutive kills by Kristina Kerrigan and Julia Watkins, though, gave Indianapolis a 25-23 win.

The Greyhounds raced out to a 9-2 lead in the fourth set, but NKU responded with an 8-2 run to pull to within 11-10 on a Buschur kill. Indianapolis countered with a 6-1 spurt to extend its advantage to 17-11 and capped the victory with a Hefferan kill at match point. 

NKU concludes the road trip Saturday afternoon with a GLVC match against Saint Joseph's. The Norse return home to close out the regular season next weekend with GLVC contests against Southern Indiana (7 p.m. Friday) and Kentucky Wesleyan (3 p.m. Saturday).

The GLVC Tournament begins Nov. 11 at the site of the No. 1 seed. The winner of the GLVC Tournament receives an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament.

NKU is seeking its second straight trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament.