Week 1 Notes (PDF)HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University volleyball team begins its 2014 campaign with a tough test this weekend, facing a pair of NCAA Tournament participants at the Eagle Challenge, hosted by Morehead State University.
The Norse will take on defending Big South Conference champion Radford on Friday at 2 p.m., and will face the host Eagles, winners of the Ohio Valley Conference last season, on Saturday at noon. Links to live stats for both matches and video for the Morehead State match will be available at nkunorse.com.
"Everybody is ready to get off the practice floor and start playing," said head coach
Liz Hart, who has been working with her team over the last three weeks of preseason practices. "We still have some improvments to make and work to do, but we're excited to see where we are when we open up against two NCAA Tournament teams."
NKU enters the 2014 season picked to finish fourth in the Atlantic Sun Conference according to the league's preseason poll. Last year, NKU posted a 12-19 overall record and a 7-11 mark in A-Sun play.
"We played a tough schedule last year to give our freshmen and sophomores a wake-up call," added Hart. "We came in to the A-Sun in 2012 and saw some quick success, but we didn't want players coming in and thinking we can just walk on the court and win. We have set a bar to match up against these teams, so last year gave us a baseline of the work we need to do in order to get to that level. We're excited to see our progress."
A WORD ABOUT RADFORD: The Highlanders made their third NCAA Tournament appearance in program history last year after posting a 25-10 overall record and winning the Big South Championship with a 3-0 victory over Coastal Carolina in the final. Radford will look to a pair of preseason All-Big South honorees . Middle blocker Emma Deininger led the Big South with 145 total blocks while being named the Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year as well as a Capital One Academic All-American, and outside hitter Rachel Wiechecki, who racked up 504 kills and 475 digs last season en route to Big South Player of the Year and Tournament MVP honors, as well as a Preseason Player of the Year nod for 2014. Friday's match will be the first meeting between the Norse and the Highlanders.
A WORD ABOUT MOREHEAD STATE: The Eagles enter the 2014 season defending the OVC championship for the fourth consecutive year and have been picked to top that league once again. MSU returns a strong core from last year's championship squad, including seniors Laura McDermott, Alex Fitzmorris and Colbey Cameron, who were each named to the Preseason All-OVC team. McDermott notched 302 kills and 100 blocks as a middle blocker last season, while Fitzmorris was OVC All-Newcomer last year after 16 double-digit kill performances. Cameron ranked fourth in the OVC last year in assists per set (9.98) and tallied 13 double-doubles.
LAST TIME AGAINST THE EAGLES: NKU shocked the OVC-champion Eagles in a four-set thriller in Morehead, Kentucky, coming back from a 25-18 setback in Set 1 to post three-straight 25-23 set wins to take the match. Kelli Morrissey recorded 12 kills and 13 digs, while
Jayden Julian had nine kills and Shelby Buschur collected eight kills and five blocks. Jenna Schreiver notched 38 assists, nine digs and a pair of blocks. The win pushed NKU's lead in the all-time series to 19-13.
PRESEASON PICKS: The Norse were picked fourth in the A-Sun Preseason Poll by the league's coaches, claiming 31 points in the balloting. Lipscomb took six first-place votes and 62 total points to lead the voting, while Jacksonville and Florida Gulf Coast rounded out the top three.
CHUCK CHECKS IN: Senior middle hitter
Jenna Ruble opened the year with some hardware after being named to the Preseason Atlantic Sun All-Conference Team. Ruble finished in the top 10 in hitting percentage among A-Sun players for the second year running, attacking at a .316 clip to rank fifth in the category. The native of Lancaster, Ohio, also racked up 100 blocks last season to lead the Norse.
THIS IS NORTHERN: Two NKU players eclipsed the 300-kill plateau last season, as outside hitter
Jayden Julian led the team with 362 kills on the season and
Jenna Ruble chipped in with 333 kills of her own. On the defensive side, two returning NKU players posted 300 or more digs: setter
Taylor Snyder (307) and defensive specialist
Mel Stewart (306).
SNYDER SET TO DELIVER: Redshirt sophomore setter
Taylor Snyder enters the 2014 season as one of the preeminent distributors in the Atlantic Sun. The Newport Central Catholic High School product averaged 10.63 assists per set last season, ranking third among A-Sun setters. Snyder also posted 19 double-doubles, good for second in the league overall. Snyder was honored last year as a part of the A-Sun All-Freshman Team.
