HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky starts to wind down the 2016 regular season this week, starting with a mid-week contest at Youngstown State. The Norse have completed their home schedule of the year with a 7-1 record, with the only loss being a 3-2 setback to Horizon League leader Cleveland State. With two more matches to go, NKU is looking to get its best possible seeding in the tournament. Wednesday's match against the Penguins is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET and will be carried on the ESPN3 platform. Fans can stream the match live through the ESPN App or Watch ESPN, with Mike Yourstowky on the call for Youngstown State with Anthony Hartwig on color for Youngstown State.
 
LEAGUE PROJECTIONS: As the Horizon League regular season comes to a close this week, a much clearer picture can be painted as to where the teams will shake out regarding seeding for the League tournament. Cleveland State has already clinched the regular-season title and the top seed in the tournament, in addition to hosting rights for the Championship, with a 13-1 record. The only other team whose fate has been locked is Youngstown State with a record of 1-13, which leaves no possibilities for the Penguins to earn a bid to the tournament.
  
NKU currently sits at fourth in the seeding with a record of 9-5, but could finish as high as second and nab one of the coveted byes for the first round of the tournament. The two teams ahead of the Norse, Green Bay and Oakland, currently have a 10-4 record. If both teams lose their matches, Green Bay to Cleveland State and Wright State as well as Oakland to Milwaukee and Valparaiso, then the two would drop to 10-6 and the Norse would move to 11-5 should they secure wins over Youngstown State and UIC this week. There is also a scenario where the Norse could get the second seed with two wins to close out the season as long as Oakland drops both matches and Green Bay loses to Cleveland State and beats Wright State. NKU would then win the head-to-head tiebreak with Green Bay, as the tiebreak in the event of two teams that split decisions goes to the team which has taken down the highest ranked opponent in the League. Neither team beat Cleveland State (which is why the scenario would require Green Bay to lose to the Vikings or it would take the advantage), but NKU took one match from Oakland while the Phoenix lost both regular-season contests to the Golden Grizzlies. In the event of a three-way tie in record between NKU, Oakland and Green Bay, Oakland would have the advantage with the highest record among a double round robin at 3-1 and would take the second seed, NKU would finish third with a 2-2 record, and Green Bay would fall to fourth at 1-3.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse closed out the home slate last weekend with a pair of wins, first upsetting Green Bay in a five-set thriller on Saturday before avenging an earlier season loss to Milwaukee with a sweep of the Panthers. NKU posted a whopping 98 digs in the victory over the Phoenix, led by redshirt-senior libero Lauren Hurley's third 30-dig match of her career. Sophomore outside hitter Haley Libs was also strong all around, nearly notching a 20/20 game with 18 kills and a career-best 20 digs.
  
The senior class led the team to a clear win over Milwaukee on Senior Day, 25-13, 25-19, 25-15. Senior middle hitter Keely Creamer paved the way with 15 kills at .462 to go with three blocks, while senior outside hitter Tristen Simpson had a season-best clip of .529 to go with her two kills. Hurley scooped up 21 digs, and redshirt-senior setter Taylor Snyder tallied 40 assists and eight digs in the sweep.
 
MAGIC NUMBER: Redshirt-senior libero Lauren Hurley received her third Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honor on Nov. 7 after a spectacular final weekend inside Regents Hall. The Gahanna, Ohio, native posted the third 30-dig match of her career in a key win over Green Bay and also delivered the match-winning ace and followed it up with 21 digs in the sweep of Milwaukee. Hurley is the first Norse to earn three player of the week awards in a season since head coach Liz Hart (then Holmes) took Great Lakes Valley Conference honors thrice in 2007 as a player for NKU.
 
SCOUTING YOUNGSTOWN STATE: The Penguins have not won a match since they last met the Norse, holding a 7-21 record overall while they sit at 1-13 in the Horizon League. YSU most recently fell to League leader Cleveland State in straight sets, but made it a battle in the second set by pushing extra points before falling 26-24.
  
Youngstown State is led by Lori Vanbeek in the middle, who ranks sixth in the League in both kills per set (3.24) and blocks per set (1.08), also ranking seventh in hitting percentage (.278). As a team, the Penguins are near the bottom of the League in most categories except serving and blocking. YSU is the second-toughest serving team with 1.49 aces per set, and also ranks fifth in blocks per set at 2.27.
           
NKU holds a 3-0 advantage in the young all-time series with the Penguins. The last time the two teams met was on Oct. 12 when the Norse were in the midst of their history seven-match sweep streak. NKU won handily, 25-21, 25-14, 25-20.