HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky volleyball remains in the area this weekend, making the short trip north to Wright State for a 6 p.m. match on Friday, Oct. 20, before hosting League-leading IUPUI at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 22. Both matches will be broadcast on ESPN3 with streaming available on computers, tablets and smart phones through WatchESPN and the ESPN App.
 
LAST TIME OUT: NKU fell on the road in four sets to Green Bay, dropping a tight first set, 28-26, before rallying back to take the second, 25-18. Following the intermission, the Phoenix dominated the rest of the contest with 25-19 and 25-16 set wins. Three Norse recorded double-doubles, led by Haley Libs with her fourth-straight match with at least 10 kills and digs (14 kills, 16 digs). Laura Crawford also added 10 kills and 16 digs, while Shelby Olsen dished out 45 assists and dug up 13 attacks. The Norse hit .168 for the match, including .441 in the second set that saw NKU terminate 18 attacks with just three errors.
 
WINNING WAYS: NKU hit a major milestone as a program on Oct. 2, as the Norse posted their 1,000th win in the 42-year team history with a 3-1 win over Youngstown State. The Penguins claimed the opening set, but NKU rattled off the next three sets to remain undefeated in the series history with YSU. Haley Libs led the team with 21 kills and 15 digs, connecting at a .395 clip, while freshman Kaelin Gentile had a career night with 11 kills at a .346 clip. Drew Hendricks had a strong showing with a career-best 13 kills from the left pin.
 
DOUBLE THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: Both Haley Libs and Laura Crawford are averaging double-doubles on the season, with 13.12 kills/14.06 digs and 11.12 kills/1294 digs per match, respectively. The duo recorded back-to-back double-doubles in the first two matches of the season against Robert Morris and Duquesne, and again versus Seattle and Sacramento State.
  
The Robert Morris match marked a feat that had not been accomplished in nearly a decade. Two players with a double-double in a sweep is a feat in and of itself, but the rarity is even more so when the two players are both attackers. The last time a pair of Norse attackers registered double-doubles in a sweep was on Oct. 21, 2007 against Mount St. Joseph, when current head coach Liz Hart (née Holmes) had 16 kills and 10 digs in the three-set victory while Tristen Dye added 15 kills and 14 digs. The last time two attackers had double-doubles in a victory of any kind was on Nov. 14, 2015 against Cleveland State, courtesy of Libs (17 kills, 13 digs) and Jayden Julian (10 kills, 17 digs).
 
AND SETTER MAKES THREE: Shelby Olsen has also entered the fold as a double-double machine, averaging 40.82 assists and 11.76 digs per match. Olsen recorded the first double-double of her career against Seattle and went off for three-straight double-doubles throughout the entirety of the NKU Invitational, culminating in career bests of 53 assists and 17 digs (which was bested by 20 digs against Florida A&M on Sept. 16) against Bowling Green.
 
BACK LINE OF DEFENSE: Northern Kentucky's defense has become a mainstay of its success, and the Norse are keeping up with the trend of being one of the top defensive teams in the Horizon League. NKU is not only leading the Horizon League in digs per set (17.73) and second in opponent hitting percentage (.202), but the team ranks 11th nationally in the former. Ashton Terrill and Haley Libs are doing their fair share of keeping opponents' offense at bay from the back row, as both rank among the League's top defenders.
 
SCOUTING WRIGHT STATE: Since opening their Horizon League slate at NKU on Sept. 23, Wright State has gone 3-5 in the first half of the League season. Though the Raiders are tied for seventh in the League standings, WSU is not to be ignored as their record includes a road win over reigning HL champion Cleveland State and a home upset over Green Bay.
  
The Raiders are led by an experienced pack of seniors, all five of whom have played every set this season. Katie Klusman, an All-League honorable mention in 2016, returns for her final season with the Raiders and leads the team with 3.31 kills per set, good for sixth in the League. The Raider offense is also run by a seasoned veteran playing in her last year, with Maddie Lohmeier averaging 9.99 assists per set. Arguably, WSU's most impactful player so far has been another senior, Jessie Thornton. The reigning HL Defensive Player of the Week paces the Horizon League by nearly half a dig per set with 4.98 dps, which is good for 40th nationally. Similar to NKU, Wright State has kept up with its competition by playing scrappy defense and extending rallies, which is evident by the fact that the Raiders sit right behind the Norse in the League rankings in both digs per set (16.88) and team attacks per set (37.90).
  
The two teams will be meeting on the hardwood for the 31st time in the history of the programs, with NKU holding an 18-12 advantage in the all-time series. Since transitioning to Division I, NKU has gone 8-1 against WSU. Earlier this year in the League opener, the Raiders gave the Norse a scare by taking the first two sets before NKU won in five on Sept. 23.
 
SCOUTING IUPUI: IUPUI has seen immense success in its first year as a Horizon League member, as the Jaguars are tied with Oakland for the top spot in the standings with a 6-2 record. The Jaguars have enjoyed the bulk of the first half of the League season at home in "The Jungle," with the only loss being a sweep by Oakland that allowed the Golden Grizzlies to climb atop the leaderboard with IUPUI.
  
IUPUI returns Kori Welbroeck, an All-Summit League honoree last season who continues to lead the offense in 2017 with 3.80 kills per set. Walbroek receives the bulk of IUPUI's sets, and has recorded more than double the kills of the next leading attacker on the team. The second match of the weekend should also prove to be a defensive battle as the Jaguars rank second in the League with 17.02 digs per set, led by Jessica Helms with 4.34 scoops a game.
  
Until this season, IUPUI and NKU had not faced each other since the 1995 season. The Jaguars claimed a victory earlier in the year with a 3-1 win in Indianapolis. NKU was held to a .072 clip and uncharacteristically, not one Norse was able to record double-digit kills in the match. As expected, the contest was competitive defensively as the Jaguars had 64 digs while NKU was not far off with 60 digs.