HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky volleyball wraps up the regular season at home, hosting Oakland and Cleveland State on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9-10. The Norse have a 6 p.m. first serve against the Golden Grizzlies on Friday evening before taking on league-leading Cleveland State for Senior Day, set for 4 p.m. on Saturday. The match against Cleveland State will be broadcast on ESPN3.
 
WEEKEND PROMOS: Friday's match will serve as NKU's faculty and staff appreciation night. Saturday will celebrate the career of NKU's lone senior, Haley Libs, with a Senior Day ceremony prior to the start of the match.
 
LAST TIME OUT: NKU avenged an Oct. 7 loss to UIC on Nov. 2, dominating the Flames in three sets on their home court. Haley Libs led the Norse offense with 13 kills and 12 digs for her 20th double-double of the season, but the main statistic of the night was NKU's serving. Shelby Olsen tied NKU's Division I-era single-match aces record with six winners as the Norse registered 12 aces and just two errors against the Flames. Another Division I-era program record went down on Friday night as Ashton Terrill became the era's single-season digs record holder with 21 scoops as she squared off against the Horizon League's top terminator. Terrill currently has 552 digs on the season.
 
POSTSEASON PREDICTIONS: Going into the final week of the regular season, Horizon League teams from top to bottom are still jockeying for seeding in the 2018 Horizon League Volleyball Championship. The only team that is completely out of contention is Youngstown State with a 1-13 mark going into the weekend. Cleveland State and Green Bay are fighting for hosting rights, as both hold an 11-3 mark. Currently, the Vikings hold the advantage over the Phoenix thanks to a prior victory over the Norse coupled with NKU's league-opening win of the Phoenix. The Norse sit in a tie for third with UIC with a 9-5 record, but currently hold the seeding advantage over the Flames courtesy of the Green Bay win. Milwaukee (7-7) is currently in fifth, with Oakland (6-8) behind and Wright State on the outside looking in with a 5-9 record. IUPUI could potentially make the tournament with a 4-10 mark, but would have to rely on a 2-0 weekend against Youngstown State and Oakland while also depending on 0-2 weekends from both the Golden Grizzlies and the Raiders.
  
As for the Norse, NKU could finish anywhere from the No. 2 to 5 seed.  There are a few scenarios in which the Norse receive the second seed and a coveted first-round bye, all of which require the Norse to go 2-0 against Oakland and Cleveland State, while Green Bay would have to lose both its matches to UIC and Milwaukee, and UIC would have to lose to Milwaukee. In the event that Cleveland State goes 1-1, the Vikings would receive the outright first place with a 12-4 record. This would put the Norse and Green Bay in a tie for second with 11-5 records, and since the two teams split in the regular season, the tie break would move on to common opponents instead of a head-to-head.
  
Moving down the standings, the first team that would not have a 1-1 record for both teams would likely be Oakland, which defeated Green Bay but would go 0-2 against the Norse. The process could get muddled a bit if Oakland goes 0-2, Wright State goes 1-1 and IUPUI goes 2-0, which would give all three a 6-10 record. In the tiebreak against teams in a tie in the standings, the combined record against all teams is used, which would be a 5-1 record for both Green Bay and NKU. Moving on to the third tiebreak rule, which is based on sets won in the head-to-head, both Green Bay and NKU won four sets against each other. That brings the process to the next tiebreak, which is points won in the head-to-head. NKU would have the advantage, 182-176, giving the Norse the No. 2 seed.
  
Should the Vikings go 0-2 with the other previously required outcomes for NKU, Green Bay and UIC, much of the same holds true with the progression down the standings. Cleveland State would come out of a three-way tie for first on top, leaving NKU and Green Bay to be decided by a string of tiebreakers. The seeding process would be the same as if CSU had gone 1-1, with one exception. If Wright State goes 2-0 and Oakland goes 0-2, the Raiders would jump the Golden Grizzlies in the standings and would be the first common opponent that would not feature split matches in the regular season. Green Bay would take the No. 2 seed in this scenario due to two regular-season wins over the Raiders while the Norse went 1-1.
  
STAY CLASSY: Senior outside hitter Haley Libs made the cut in the second round of the Senior CLASS Award and was named one of 10 national finalists on Oct. 25. The award recognizes the rounded student-athlete who has accomplishments in the four C's of classroom, character, community and competition. The winner will be determined by a voting system that includes one-third weighted by a fan ballot and the other two-thirds coming from AVCA coaches and national media. Fans can vote for Libs every day on multiple devices until Dec. 5 by visiting www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/volleyball_2018.
  
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 4.07 kills and 3.83 digs per set to help the Norse hold an 17-8 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 Matthew 25 Ministry, Henry Hosea Soup Kitchen and serving as an ambassador for Team IMPACT.
 
DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE: For the 11th-straight week, NKU tops the nation with 19.82 digs per set. Sophomore libero Ashton Terrill ranks ninth nationally and leads the Horizon League with 5.63 digs per set, while senior outside hitter Haley Libs is second on the team with 3.82 digs per set. Back row defense has become a staple of NKU volleyball, with the Norse ranking 16th nationally in the 2017 season.
 
SCOUTING OAKLAND: Though Oakland is in good position to get the No. 5 or 6 seed in the tournament, the Golden Grizzlies are not out of the woods and could face elimination without a winning weekend. Oakland has been trending upward in past weeks, most recently winning in five sets against Green Bay in its latest outing. Jamie Walling has been leading the Golden Grizzlies in Horizon League matches with 3.54 kills per set at a .304 clip, ranking in the league's top-10 in both categories. Oakland's roster also features the incumbent Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week in Jordan Lentz, a 6-foot-1 setter who is fresh off a triple-double against the Phoenix.
  
As a team, Oakland sits in the bottom portion of the league in most statistics with the exception of averaging 2.30 blocks per set, good for fourth in the standings. Krysteena Davis is averaging 1.40 blocks per set to lead the team at the net, good for second in the league.
  
Oakland has been dominant in the history of the two programs with an 11-2 all-time record against the Norse. However, NKU picked up a win earlier in the year against the Golden Grizzlies, winning 18-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-21 in Rochester, Michigan.
 
SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE: The reigning champions have clinched a first-round bye and are looking to host the Horizon League Championship for yet another year. The Vikings have taken just three losses in the league slate, but Cleveland State made Green Bay, UIC and IUPUI work for the victory by pushing to five sets in each of the setbacks. The Vikings have a powerful hitting duo in Sara Skeens and Trinniti Hall, with the two ranking fifth and sixth in the league kills per set standings, respectively. Hall is not only an efficient hitter, ranking fourth at a .282 clip, but she is an integral part of Cleveland State's front line with 1.15 blocks per set. The Vikings have three of the top-four blockers on the roster, paced by Hannah Greene with 1.50 blocks per set while Rachel Stover rejects 1.18 attempts a frame.
  
The Vikings lead the league in blocking by a wide margin with 2.86 blocks per set, good for 10th in the nation, while the back row averages 18.20 digs per set, good for third in the Horizon League. Cleveland State's weakest statistical asset is its serving, as the Vikings sit at the bottom of the Horizon League with 0.89 aces per set.
  
Cleveland State holds a 9-3 advantage in the all-time series with the Norse.  The Vikings earned a 25-22, 23-25, 25-17, 25-20 victory over NKU on Sept. 28 in a defense-heavy match that featured a combined 211 digs between the two squads.