HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky volleyball will play in the one-day Dunn Hospitality Tournament hosted by Evansville on Saturday, Sept. 8. The Norse start the day with Austin Peay at 11 a.m. CT/12 p.m ET before a nightcap match against the host Purple Aces at 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse took on the field at the Holiday Inn Express Invitational, hosted by Northern Illinois, and came away with a 1-2 mark. The Norse fell in a five-set heartbreaker to Atlantic Coast Conference foe Virginia before suffering a sweep at the hands of Nevada. NKU was on the verge of another loss to the host Huskies before storming back for a five-set win, 21-25, 23-25, 30-28, 25-21, 15-11. Three Norse recorded double-doubles, including Haley Libs' historic 30-kill, 34-dig performance, and Miranda Wucherer had her second triple-double of the season with 13 kills, 33 assists and 14 digs.
 
IN ELITE COMPANY: Senior outside hitter Haley Libs has her name littered throughout NKU laurels already, but she made a distinctive mark in Norse history on Sept. 1. In NKU's five-set comeback win against NIU, Libs became the first-ever Norse to have a 30/30 match with career-highs of 30 kills and 34 digs. She had two prior 20/20 matches, which had previously not been accomplished by a Norse since head coach Liz Hart (née Holmes) had a 20-kill, 25-dig outing on Sept. 15, 2007. The feat is so rare that a comprehensive list of 30/30 matches has not been recorded. According to VolleyMob.com's Wendy Mayer, there have been only two other 30-kill, 30-dig matches in the current scoring era. Alexa Gray of BYU had 30 kills and 32 digs against Portland on Nov. 12, 2015, and Krista Vansant of Washington had 38 kills and 30 digs against USC on Dec. 14, 2013.
 
DOUBLE-EDGED WEAPON: Haley Libs has always been a polished six-rotation player for the Norse, but she has been off to a tremendous start in her senior season on both the offensive and defensive ends. With both 4.36 kills and 4.36 digs per set, Libs is one of just two players in the nation that ranks in the top-50 in kills per set and in the top-150 in digs per set. The only other player is UNLV's Mariena Hayden, who is averaging 4.61 kills and 4.52 digs per frame for the Rebels.  Libs is well on her way to becoming NKU's 10th member of the 1,000-kill, 1,000-dig club as she sits at 13th all-time with 1,219 kills and is just 49 digs away from hitting her 1000th scoop.
 
DEFENSE, DEFENSE, DEFENSE: For the second week, NKU tops the nation with 21.48 digs per set. Sophomore libero ranks sixth nationally with 6.16 digs per set, while senior outside hitter Haley Libs sits at No. 120 with 4.36 digs per set. Back row defense has become a staple of NKU volleyball, with the Norse ranking 16th nationally in the 2017 season.
 
SCOUTING AUSTIN PEAY: The Governors, who were picked to finish second in the Ohio Valley Conference this season, are off to a 6-0 start with three of their wins coming by way of a sweep. Austin Peay boasts a potent offense with 15.1 kills per set, which ranks fifth nationally, and a .254 hitting percentage, which sits just outside the nation's top-50. Leading the offensive attack is senior outside hitter Cecily Gable, who is averaging 4.00 kills per set, while Brooke Moore and Logan Garger round out starters who are averaging over two kills per set. Kristen Stucker ranks seventh nationally as she dishes out 11.91 assists per set. In the back row, freshman libero Jaymeson Kinley has stepped up to fill the shoes of APSU's injured projected starter and leads the defense with 5.14 digs per set. Saturday's meeting will mark just the second between the two programs. NKU won the inaugural match in the series on Oct. 15, 1977, 15-4, 15-9.
 
SCOUTING EVANSVILLE: The Purple Aces are also off to a strong start in 2018 with a 5-2 mark, losing to Southeast Missouri and Elon. Evansville has been running a 6-2 offense with Cecilia Thon and Allana McInnis dishing out the sets, the majority of which are sent to Rachel Tam and Mildrelis Rodriguez. Tam ranks 17th nationally with 4.60 kills per set to lead the team, and is doing so at a .246 hitting percentage to lead the primary hitters in that category as well. Rodriguez averaged 3.33 kills per set and is also a dependable defender with 2.80 digs per set. NKU holds an 8-2 edge in the all-time series with the Purple Aces and enter the weekend riding a seven-match winning streak. The last two meetings, in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, were sweeps by the Norse.
 
MESSED AROUND AND GOT A...: Freshman setter/rightside hitter Miranda Wucherer had one of the best collegiate debuts that a rookie could ask for when she opened up her career with NKU's first triple-double in 13 years. Wucherer posted 32 assists, 13 digs and 10 kills against Toledo for NKU's first triple-double of the Division I era and the first since Andrea Lanham had 42 assists, 10 kills and 11 digs at Indianapolis on Oct. 29, 2005. Wucherer added another triple-double at NIU with 33 assists, 14 digs and 13 kills, putting her in a tie for the nation's lead with a pair of triple-doubles.