HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky will head to the Horizon League Championship after earning the No. 3 seed with an 11-5 record in the regular season. The tournament will be hosted by Cleveland State, the regular-season champion, on Friday-Sunday, Nov. 18-20. NKU will face No. 6 Valparaiso in the opening round on Friday at 3 p.m. ET from Woodling Gymnasium. With a win over Valpo, the Norse will take on No. 2 Green Bay on Saturday at 6 p.m. The championship final is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. All five matches of the Championship will be carried on ESPN3 and are available for streaming on computers, tablets and smartphones through WatchESPN or the ESPN App.
 
SCOUTING THE TOURNAMENT: Cleveland State earned the top seed with a 14-2 League mark, which gave the Vikings their fourth regular-season title in program history. Green Bay earned a surprising runner-up finish at 12-4 after being picked fifth in the preseason poll. Both of the top two teams earned a bye in the first round. Cleveland State will take on the lowest remaining seed in the semifinals, while Green Bay will play the highest remaining seed. The Norse also enjoyed a successful season at 11-5, which included an unprecedented seven consecutive sweeps of conference opponents. Coming in at the No. 4 seed is Oakland, who slipped from being tied to second after ending the season with three straight losses. Milwaukee, who will play Oakland in the first round, finished the season at 9-7, while Valparaiso had a strong finish to be the last team in with a 6-10 mark.
  
Valpo has been running one of the most unusual systems in college volleyball, but has seen great success without a primary setter. The 2016 HL Defensive Player of the Year, Morganne Longoria, has doubled up as both the libero and the primary setter for the Crusaders, and the team has gone 7-5 since moving to the out-of-system system. Most notably, Valpo claimed wins over Oakland in both meetings during the regular season, sweeping the Golden Grizzlies at home before securing a 3-1 win on Senior Night. As a team, Valpo is known for its defense, leading the League at 17.0 digs per set. NKU holds a 4-1 lead in the all-time series with the Crusaders, sweeping Valpo on both occasions this year.
  
Should the Norse take down Valpo, they would face Green Bay in the semifinals as the highest remaining seed in the tournament. Green Bay is not a statistical team leader in the League in any category, but ranks in the top five in every statistic. The Phoenix are led by All-League honoree Lydia DeWeese, who leads the League in blocks per set and ranks fifth in the nation with 1.58 rejections a game. She also ranked fourth in hitting percentage in HL matches at a .333 clip. NKU holds a 6-1 all-time lead over the Phoenix, with the only loss coming this season when Green Bay swept NKU on the road. The Norse avenged the loss on Nov. 4 with a five-set win.
  
Cleveland State is the likely contender to make the championship final on the other side of the bracket, having dropped just two matches during the League season. The Vikings are strong all-around, led by the 2016 Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year, Grace Kauth. The senior is one of three Vikings on the All-League team, along with the 2016 Setter of the Year, Gina Kilner, and middle blocker Alexis Middlebrooks. The Vikings also had Aaliyah Slappy earn honorable mention, while rookie Sara Skeens was named the Co-Freshman of the Year. As a team, Cleveland State leads the League in hitting percentage (.245) and ranks second behind NKU in kills per set (13.73). CSU was the only team in the League that NKU did not register a win against this year, with the Vikings coming out on top of a five-set win in Highland Heights before a sweep in Cleveland. CSU leads the all-time series, 6-3.
  
Oakland is a team that is one of the strongest serving teams in the nation with 1.66 aces per set to rank in the nation's top-20. Melissa Deatsch is the standout server for the Golden Grizzlies, as she ranks third in the nation with 0.62 aces per set. Oakland landed Sammy Condon on the All-League Team, while Deatsch and Jessica Dood both garnered honorable mention. The Golden Grizzlies lead the all-time series with the Norse, 9-1. The lone win was this year when NKU stunned Oakland in a straight-set victory, which sparked a run of seven consecutive sweeps. Oakland then retaliated with a four-set win in Rochester.
  
Milwaukee stands out as the top blocking team in the League, averaging 2.58 blocks per set in HL matches. The Panthers have the strongest blocking tandem in the League with Jess Kalous and Bridget Wallenberger, who both average over 1.20 blocks a game. Wallenberger is also Milwaukee's strongest offensive took with 3.26 kills per set at a .277 clip, which factor into her being named the other Co-Freshman of the Year. Milwaukee earned its first win against the Norse in the League season opener in five sets, but NKU swept the Panthers on Senior Day.
 
LAST TIME OUT: With a shocking Milwaukee sweep of Oakland on Friday night, NKU just needed to record a win over UIC on Saturday to earn the No. 3 seed in the tournament. Things went smoothly in the opening frame with a 25-14 first-set win, but the Flames were not so easy to give up on their Senior Night with back-to-back 25-23 sets to take a 2-1 lead. NKU rallied in the fourth to push five sets, but fell behind early in the final stanza. The Norse trailed the entire set until knotting the score at 14-14, and sophomore outside hitter Haley Libs drilled two kills to cap off the victory. Libs finished with a season-high 23 kills to go with 16 digs, while the Norse defense recorded 90 digs led by redshirt-senior libero Lauren Hurley's 29 scoops.
 
HARD WORK FOR HARDWARE: NKU had four Norse earn end-of-season honors, the most individuals named to a conference team since joining Division I. Sophomore outside hitter Haley Libs, senior middle hitter Keely Creamer and redshirt-senior setter Taylor Snyder were named to the All-Horizon League Team, tying Cleveland State for the most honorees on the team, while freshman rightside hitter Laura Crawford was named to the All-Freshman Team.
  
NKU's top trio put up some impressive numbers in 2016. Libs was voted the third-best player in the League by head coaches after ranking fourth in kills per set (3.38) and just outside the top-10 in hitting percentage (.254 -- highly impressive for a left wing hitter). Creamer earned the fifth spot on the list, and was the only athlete to rank in the top three in both hitting percentage (third - .333) and kills per set (second - 3.64). Snyder led the League in assists per set (11.36) and also ranks 30th nationally in all matches played with 10.88 dishes a game.