HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – The Northern Kentucky University volleyball team has its sights set on Atlantic Sun Conference play this weekend, heading back to the Music City of Nashville, Tennessee, to take on Lipscomb. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 with first serve is set for 7:30 p.m. Eastern.
 
The Norse wrapped up their final weekend of regular-season tournament play by sweeping through the Bruin Classic, defeating Liberty, Wright State and the hosts, Belmont, dropping just one set in the process. Megan Wanstrath was named the tournament's MVP, while Keely Creamer and Taylor Snyder were both named to the all-tournament team. The wins wrapped up a 4-0 week for the Norse that pushed their record to a league-best 10-3 on the year.
 
Jenna Ruble amassed 53 kills over the four matches, including a career-best 20-kill effort against Evansville on Tuesday. Creamer totaled up 44 kills to go with 16 blocks and Wanstrath had 43 kills while attacking at a .363 clip.
 
Live stats and video links for Friday's match are available at NKUNorse.com.
 
A WORD ABOUT LIPSCOMB: The Lady Bisons enter A-Sun play with a deceiving 6-6 record, having played one of the toughest nonconference schedules in the A-Sun. Lipscomb opened the season against two top 25 teams, taking a shocking 3-2 win over then No. 22 Kansas. Last week, Lipscomb took a pair of tough losses at No. 15 Kentucky and Xavier. The senior-heavy hitting crew is led by Lauren Ford, who ranks second in the A-Sun at 3.67 kills per set. Freshman setter Kayla Ostrom directs the offense, averaging 10.39 assists per set to rank second in the league as well. Bri McCombs is also among the league leaders in digs at 4.20 digs per set.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST THE LADY BISONS: Ford posted 18 kills and attacked at a .366 clip to lead Lipscomb over NKU, 3-1, on Oct. 8, 2013, closing out a season sweep for the Lady Bisons. Jayden Julian led NKU with 11 kills and 12 digs, while Taylor Snyder added a double-double as well at 36 assists and 10 digs. The Norse outblocked the Lady Bisons, 9-3, with Ruble picking up four block assists and Wanstrath adding two solo blocks. NKU is still seeking its first win over Lipscomb, having dropped all four meetings between the teams.
 
BLOCK PARTY: The Norse have stepped up their blocking game during the 2014 season, and the efforts are beginning to reap results. NKU has outblocked its last three opponents, rejecting foes in the weekend tournament by a combined margin of 22-15. NKU has not had a string of three matches in which it led the blocking effort since the transition to Division 1, tracking the feat back to the 2011 season, when NKU outblocked Urbana, Lewis and Wisconsin-Parkside by a 21-14 edge.
 
The results are shown in the league statistics individually, as well. Keely Creamer ranks second in the league in blocking, averaging 0.91 blocks per set. Jenna Ruble is keeping pace as well, sharing fourth place among league blockers at 0.83 blocks per set.
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Defensive Specialist Mel Stewart was named the A-Sun's Defensive Player of the Week last week after averaging 4.80 digs per set in NKU's four wins. Stewart twice went over 20 digs in a match, picking up 24 each in the wins over Evansville (Sept. 16) and Wright State (Sept. 20). Stewart currently leads the A-Sun in digs per set, at 4.53, and ranks second in total digs with 213.
 
LEAGUE OPENERS: NKU and Lipscomb will open Atlantic Sun Conference play against each other for the third consecutive year, with this being the first opener played at Allen Arena. NKU has yet to win an A-Sun opening match, with its last 1-0 league start coming in its last year as a Division II program. NKU opened the 2011 Great Lakes Valley Conference season with a 3-0 win over Saint Joseph's (Ind.), kicking off a 14-4 league season.