HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University volleyball team defeated the Spartans of USC Upstate to conclude their regular season on Saturday afternoon. With the win, NKU finishes the regular season at 18-10 overall, and their 7-7 record in Atlantic Sun Conference play is good for a No. 4 seed in the upcoming Atlantic Sun Championship.
 
The Norse started off their afternoon celebrating their three seniors: Megan Wanstrath, Kiersten Ham and Jenna Ruble. Ruble had a monumental game, tying her career record with 21 kills and had an attack percentage of .571. She also had four blocks, four digs and a service ace. Ham also had contributions of five digs and a kill.
 
"We couldn't really expect much more out of a senior day," said Wanstrath. "The tournament-clinching win last night, and then today we were able to focus on the win to improve our seeding."
 
"This game got us started on the right foot going in to the tournament," added Ruble. "It's also just great to go out with a win on senior night."
 
The seniors were not the only stars of the show. Keely Creamer finished with 16 kills behind a .371 hitting percentage and had two blocks. In addition, Tristen Simpson had major contributions with an attack percentage of .417 off of 12 kills. Mel Stewart anchored the defense with 19 digs.
 
"We may have started up kind of slow and at Upstate's pace, but once we got that fire, especially in that last game, there was no stopping us," said Creamer.
 
Kayla Eversgard had 18 kills and 15 digs to lead the Spartans, who finished the season at 10-20 overall and 1-13 in A-Sun play.
 
NKU came out and took an early lead in Set 1 thanks to error-free play for the first half of the frame. When the Norse did lose the serve, they were quick to get the side out. The very clean productive play out of the Norse led to an 8-1 run to push NKU to a 19-9 lead. Consistent defense led by Mel Stewart, with five digs on the set, and powerful offense with a team hitting percentage of .419 gave NKU the 25-15 win.
 
The Norse had struggles to start out Set 2, but were able to stay in the stanza with strong attacking out of middle hitters Ruble and Creamer with four kills each. NKU's hustle and resilience helped them close on a 6-2 run to take the set, 25-21.
 
NKU came out flat at the start of set three, falling behind, 8-4. Following a time out by NKU head coach Liz Hart, the Norse went on a 7-0 run, led by Creamer with two kills and a block on the run. Ham came in and picked up clutch digs to help propel the Norse to the lead at 17-13. The Spartans worked a late comeback, using a 7-1 run to pick up the win, 25-23.
 
NKU regrouped between sets and in the fourth gained an early lead at 11-5. It continued to push offensively, thanks to solid passing by Lauren Hurley and Ham. The offense continued to push through on the shoulders of Ruble and her nine kills in the set. The team was able to hold off any chance of comeback by the Spartans, taking the match with the decisive 25-10 margin.
 
"This victory really gave us the momentum we needed going in to next week," said Ham. "The win definitely improves the team's confidence moving forward."
 
"I was impressed with the girls' focus all week," added Hart. "I hope for it to continue in the tournament. This is the first time the girls get to experience something like this, and the only word I can use for it all is excitement."
 
The Norse will now go on to play in their first-ever A-Sun Championship. The tournament begins on Thursday, Nov. 20^th, in Fort Myers, Florida. Northern Kentucky will open the tournament against the No. 5 seed, Stetson.