HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky volleyball is riding a four-match sweep streak heading into Saturday's match, which will feature the Norse taking on the Flames of UIC. First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET on Oct. 15. The match will be broadcast through ESPN3 with Brady Laber on the call, and will be available on WatchESPN and the ESPN App. Following the match, the Norse will host a free volleyball clinic for girls age 5-13. Participants who have completed the registration prior to Oct. 12 will have a chance to interact with the players, learn drills and get autographs. Prior to the match, there will also be a brief ceremony for redshirt-senior setter Taylor Snyder in which she will be presented with commemorative volleyballs for reaching the career milestones of 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs.
 
LAST TIME OUT: NKU continued to dominate in the Horizon League with a mid-week sweep of Youngstown State, 25-21, 25-14, 25-20. Redshirt-senior setter Taylor Snyder recorded her 1,000th career dig with her double-double of 31 assists and 10 digs, becoming the second Norse setter in program history to have 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs in a career. Senior middle hitter Keely Creamer had the best hitting percentage of her career after blasting 16 kills on 19 attempts for a .842 clip, just one attempt shy of qualifying for the record in a single match. The Norse also had a strong showing in the back row, led by Lauren Hurley's 16 digs in addition to 10 digs from Snyder and sophomore outside hitter Haley Libs.
 
SNYDER SENSATIONAL IN SWEEPS: The past two sweeps have proven to be landmark matches for redshirt-senior setter Taylor Snyder. In the win over Wright State on Oct. 9, Snyder had a double-double with 34 assists and 10 digs, hitting the career mark of 4,000 assists. She is just the fourth Norse setter to ever hit 4,000 assists and is the first one to do so in the Division I era. She followed it up with 31 assists and 10 digs in the sweep of Youngstown State on Oct. 12 to record her 1,000th career dig. Snyder is now just the second setter in NKU history to have 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs in a career, and once again, the first to do so in the Division I era. Her back-to-back double-doubles were an impressive feat in themselves, as Snyder became the first Norse since 2008 to record consecutive double-doubles in sweeps of opponents. The last time it happened was on Sept. 8, 2008, when Tristen Dye had 12 kills and 14 digs against Kentucky Wesleyan before posting 12 kills and 13 digs against Wheeling Jesuit.
 
RED HOT NORSE: Heading into Saturday, NKU has swept four straight League opponents in Oakland, Valparaiso, Wright State and Youngstown State. The last time that NKU had four or more straight sweeps was in 2011, when the Norse went on a run of five consecutive sweeps that included wins over Great Lakes Valley Conference foes Drury, Missouri S&T, William Jewel and Rockhurst, as well as Cedarville. It was also the last time that NKU swept four straight conference opponents.
 
NORSE SWEEP WEEKLY HONORS: After contributing heavily to NKU's sweeps over Valparaiso and Wright State, senior middle hitter Keely Creamer was named the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week, while redshirt-senior libero Lauren Hurley earned defensive honors. Creamer averaged 4.83 kills per set at a .481 clip and Hurley had an average of 7.66 digs per set.
 
SCOUTING UIC: The Flames got off to the hottest start in program history, going on a 10-0 winning streak, but have since fizzled and posted a 2-8 record since then. UIC is still searching for its first Horizon League victory of the year, sitting at 0-6, and will play Youngstown State on Friday night before squaring off with the Norse. Outside hitters Kelsie Groot and Alyssa Ehrhardt lead the offense with 3.55 and 3.51 kills per set, respectively, to be the League's top-scoring tandem. Groot is second in the League in kills per set, while Ehrhardt is third. Nicole Johnson is the League's top statistical setter with 10.65 assists per set, but has fallen to seventh in League-only matches. As a team, the Flames are second in the League in both kills and hitting percentage, but ranks sixth and seventh against League opponents.
  
The series history with UIC dates back to 1980, but had been stagnant since 1981 until it was renewed last season when NKU joined the Horizon League. The Norse are 4-1 all-time against the Flames, with the lone loss coming last season in Regents Hall when the Flames came out on top of a 3-1 decision on Sept. 26. The Norse avenged the loss when they traveled to Chicago, downing UIC on its home court in four sets on Oct. 23.
 
SENIOR STANDOUTS: The quartet that makes up the Norse seniors is certainly making the most of its final season donning the Gold and Black. The most drastic improvement is from redshirt-senior Lauren Hurley, who stepped into the libero role for 2016. As a defensive specialist, Hurley averaged 2.12 digs per set in her first three years at NKU. This season, she is one of the League's top defenders with 4.81 digs per set, and has twice been named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week.
  
Middle hitter Keely Creamer became the 18th member of the 1,000 kill club this season and currently leads the team with 3.08 kills per set for her highest average of her career. Creamer is also climbing up the ranks of the record books in block assists, currently sitting at fifth all-time with 286.
  
On the left pin, Tristen Simpson is having her most productive season, averaging 2.50 kills per set after putting up an average of 1.95 through her first three seasons.
  
Setter Taylor Snyder continues to lead the offense and is posting similar numbers in assists per set as years past at 10.27/set, but has become more aggressive individually on the offensive end. Snyder is averaging 1.24 kills per set in her final season as a Norse, compared to averaging just over half a kill per set in her first three seasons. Even more impressive is that she's doing so at a .487 clip.
 
NATIONAL EXPOSURE FOR HOME SLATE: Seven of volleyball's home matches have been selected as a part of NKU's fall broadcast partnership with ESPN3. Broadcast dates include matches against: Cleveland State (Sept. 30, 6 p.m.), Oakland (Oct. 1, 4 p.m.), Valparaiso (Oct. 7, 7 p.m.), UIC (Oct. 15, 4 p.m.), Wright State (Oct. 23, 4 p.m.), Green Bay (Nov. 4, 6 p.m.) and Milwaukee (Nov. 5, 4 p.m.).
 
MILESTONE CLUBS GET NEW MEMBERS: Keely Creamer was presented with a commemorative ball prior to the Cleveland State match in honor of recording her 1,000th career kill. Going into the Butler Invitational, Creamer needed just nine kills to reach the mark. She accomplished the feat with her third kill against Pac-12 opponent Arizona.
  
On Oct. 9, Taylor Snyder surpassed 4,000 career assists. She is the fourth Norse all-time and the first solely in the Division I era to hit the 4,000-assist mark. Snyder also hit her 1,000th career dig against Youngstown State, making her just the second NKU setter to record at least 4,000 assists and 1,000 digs after Molly Donovan dished out 4,971 assists and had 1,005 digs between 1995-98.