HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University volleyball team will wrap up both their home play and Atlantic Sun Conference play this weekend when they welcome the Owls of Kennesaw State and Spartans of USC Upstate to Regents Hall.
 
On Friday at 6:30 p.m., NKU will take on Kennesaw State. It is Special Olympics night at Regents. Then Saturday's event begins at 3 p.m., and it is Senior Day. The Norse will celebrate seniors Megan Wanstrath, Jenna Ruble and Kiersten Ham in a special pre-match ceremony.
 
Live stats and links to the weekend's ASun.TV broadcasts are available at NKUNorse.com. Fans can also find up-to-the-minute updates by following @NKUNorseGameDay on Twitter. 
 
NKU currently stands at 16-10 overall and 5-7 in the Atlantic Sun after two road losses this past weekend to Jacksonville and North Florida.
 
A WORD ON KENNESAW STATE: The Owls are looking for wins this weekend to get them into the race for a No. 4 seed in the Atlantic Sun Championship, as they currently stand at 4-8 in the conference. Currently on a three-match losing streak, Kennesaw State is looking for continued success from Kelly Marcinek, the team's top kill getter with 294 on the season. The Owls also look for defensive help from Katarina Morton, who is currently third in digs in A-Sun play with 216 in conference digs.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST THE OWLS: With a very strong overall performance, the Owls were able to defeat the Norse 3-1 back on Oct. 3. Marcinek had a double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs. She was not the lone offensive threat, as Cierra Royster had 14 kills and finished with a hitting percentage of .700. Mel Stewart had 19 digs for NKU and Taylor Snyder finished with a double-double (52 assists, 15 digs).
 
A WORD ON USC UPSTATE: Struggling on offense, the Spartans are 10-18 on the year with a conference record of 1-11. They have a team hitting percentage of .138, but they make up for the offensive struggles on defense with 1820 digs on the year, which leads the A-Sun. This comes from the combination threat of Kaleigh Kelley with 318 digs and Lexi Gober with 308 digs.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST THE SPARTANS: A double-double from Taylor Snyder (41 assists, 14 digs) and a strong offensive performance out of Jayden Julian, who hit .312 with 14 kills as well as three blocks, led the Norse to a 3-1 victory in Spartansburg, South Carolina on Oct. 4. While Gober (33 assists, 10 digs) and Kayla Eversgerd (10 kills, 19 digs) put up double-doubles of their own, it was not enough to overcome not only the solid offense, but also the impressive defense out of Mel Stewart who had 25 digs in the match and four service aces.
 
DEFENSE AT THE NET: Coming into this weekend, Jenna Ruble has 299 career total blocks, putting her in position to surpass 300 by the end of the weekend. Along with her presence at the net last weekend with five blocks, the Norse are averaging 1.7 blocks per set including the team's leading blocker Keely Creamer (17 BS, 65 BA).
 
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: On the season, the Norse have dominated at home with a record of 8-2 overall and 4-1 in conference. The only conference loss came at the hands of FGCU in a five-set heartbreaker. The Norse are hoping to capitalize on the last home stand of the year.
 
TOURNAMENT POTENTIAL: Going into this weekend the Norse are currently tied for fourth in the Atlantic Sun standings. This is the first season the Norse are eligible to play in the A-Sun Championship, and they are poised to make an appearance. With a win over Kennesaw State on Friday, NKU will lock up a spot in the postseason.