HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky volleyball begins the second half of Horizon League action on the road, heading to Wisconsin for matches against Milwaukee and Green Bay. First serve against the Panthers is slated for 6 p.m. CT/7 ET on Friday, Oct. 19, while the match against the Phoenix is set for 4 p.m. CT/5 ET on Saturday, Oct. 20. Both matches will be broadcast on ESPN3.
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse went 1-1 on the road, taking down IUPUI in four sets before a five-set loss to Wright State.
Haley Libs extended her double-double streak to 11 with 17 kills and 17 digs against the Jaguars before 14 kills and 16 digs versus the Raiders.
Anna Brinkmann and
Laura Crawford also chipped in double-doubles over the weekend against IUPUI and Wright State, respectively, and
Shelby Olsen ran the offense with 76 assists and her fourth- and fifth-consecutive double-doubles.
STAY CLASSY: Senior outside hitter
Haley Libs was named one of 30 national candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. The candidate pool will be narrowed down to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 finalists will go into a nationwide voting system distributed to media, coaches and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
Libs has been an exemplary student-athlete during her NKU career, leading the Norse in kills in every season while holding a flawless 4.00 grade point average. She is a two-time Horizon League All-Academic honoree and was named to the CoSIDA All-District team in 2017. Libs has been saving her best season for last, averaging 4.11 kills and 3.78 digs per set to help the Norse hold an 13-6 overall record thus far. With regards to character, she is a three-time captain as chosen by her teammates for her commitment and work ethic to both volleyball and academic studies. Finally, she has been a leader within NKU volleyball's many community outreach efforts, working with Mathew 25 Ministry, Henry Hosea Soup Kitchen and serving as an ambassador for Team IMPACT.
DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE: For the eighth-straight week, NKU tops the nation with 19.82 digs per set. Sophomore libero
Ashton Terrill ranks seventh nationally and leads the Horizon League with 5.78 digs per set, while senior outside hitter
Haley Libs is second on the team with 3.78 digs per set. Back row defense has become a staple of NKU volleyball, with the Norse ranking 16th nationally in the 2017 season.
SCOUTING MILWAUKEE: The Panthers seem to have overcome their season-starting funk that saw the team post just one win in the nonconference portion of its schedule and currently hold a 4-4 mark in Horizon League play. Milwaukee is coming off a sweep of Youngstown State and a five-set win over Oakland at home and a win on Friday would put the Panthers in a tie for fourth in the league standings with the Norse. When the Horizon League season began, the Panthers ranked at the bottom of the league in nearly every statistical category. The team has since improved to sit in the middle of the pack in league-only games, averaging 13.31 kills per set at a .181 clip.
Milwaukee's offense is spread out evenly between its two setters, Jenn Dore and Rylie Vaughn, with four Panthers averaging at least 2.00 kills per set in Horizon League action. Kylie Wilks leads the Panthers with 2.62 kills and 3.76 digs per set, while Louise Kiekhofer adds 2.55 kps and Carmen Heilemann is averaging 2.54 kps. Jess Grabowski has been a stronghold in the back row, averaging 4.90 digs per set both overall and in league matches.
The Panthers hold a 4-3 advantage in the all-time series, which began when the Norse joined the Horizon League in 2015. However, NKU has yet to win a match in Milwaukee. The last time the Norse faced the Panthers on the road, UWM came away with a tightly-contested sweep over NKU, 26-24, 25-23, 28-26. The Norse reciprocated the sweep with the first meeting of 2018, defeating Milwaukee 25-17, 25-23, 26-24 in Regents hall on Sept. 22.
SCOUTING GREEN BAY: The Phoenix have become the top team in the Horizon League after the first half of league play, holding a 7-1 mark and riding a seven-match winning streak. Green Bay's lone loss came from none other than the Norse, who had a dominant league opener on Sept. 21 for a 25-18, 24-26, 25-18, 25-16 win.
The 2017 Horizon League Freshman of the Year, Taylor Wolf, leads the Phoenix and the league, and is ranked 10th nationally, with 4.62 kills per set. Wolf is also second on the team in digs with 2.99 scoops per set, trailing only libero Vanessa Buman's 5.15 digs per set. With the Phoenix topping the league standings, it comes as no surprise that Green Bay ranks among the lead's top half in all statistical categories with 13.73 kills per set at a .211 clip. The Phoenix are the top servers in the Horizon League with 1.60 aces per set and are second with 2.47 blocks per set.
NKU holds a 7-4 advantage in the all-time series against the Phoenix with a 5-4 edge since transitioning to Division I. The win on Sept. 21 snapped a three-match losing streak to the Phoenix.
