HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky volleyball makes the short trip down to Lexington, Kentucky, for the first and second rounds of the 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. The Norse will face No. 22 Michigan in the first round on Friday, Dec. 6, with first serve at 5 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN3. The winner of that match will advance to Saturday's round, which will be played against the winner of No. 11 Kentucky vs. Southeast Missouri State.
LAST TIME OUT: Northern Kentucky rolled through the Horizon League Championship to earn the program's first-ever Division I NCAA Championship berth. The Norse dropped just one set as the No. 4 seed in the tournament, upending No. 5 UIC, No. 1 Wright State and No. 2 Milwaukee.
Laura Crawford was named the tournament MVP after averaging 3.00 kills, 3.50 digs, 0.80 blocks and 0.50 aces per set, while
Shelby Olsen and
Abby Kanakry were also named to the all-tournament team. NKU absolutely dominated its competition, hitting .299 through three matches while holding its three opponents to a .153 hitting percentage, which included holding both UIC and Milwaukee to under .100. That defensive performance was bolstered by NKU's presence at the net as the Norse blocked 3.60 attacks per set, outblocking opponents 36-13 through 10 sets. The Norse also kept opponents out of system with 16 aces, only surrendering four aces in three matches.
AWARDS SEASON: Five different Norse pulled in Horizon League honors. Sophomore setter
Miranda Wucherer was named to the Horizon League All-Academic Team, honoring her team-leading 5.92 assists per set as well as her 4.00 grade point average.
Anna Brinkmann,
Ashton Terrill,
Reilly Briggs and
Abby Kanakry earned distinction. Brinkmann was recognized as the only outside hitter on the All-Horizon League First Team after ranking in the league's top-10 in kills, digs, aces and points per set. Terrill pulled in honorable mention after ranking third in the league in both digs and aces per set. Briggs and Kanakry both earned a spot on the all-freshman team for their work on the rightside attack.
UPWARD TREND: NKU had its highest RPI in program history on Oct. 7 and is currently one spot off of that at No. 44. The Norse have not shied away from staunch competition, with the 16th toughest schedule in the nation, which included a hallmark win over cross-river rival Cincinnati and a five-set setback at No. 19 Western Kentucky. The Horizon League has also seen continued success in the rating percentage index and is the No. 6 conference in the nation. For the first time since 2001, the Horizon League has two teams in the NCAA Championship after Wright State received its first-ever at-large bid.
NORSE VS. THE NATION: NKU ranks among the nation's top-100 in several statistical categories. NKU's best statistics come from its defensive prowess, as the Norse rank 18th in the nation with 17.56 digs per set, 36th with 2.53 blocks per set and 51st with a .178 opponent hitting percentage. This season, the Norse have held seven opponents to under a .100 hitting percentage, including both UIC and Milwaukee at the 2019 Horizon League Championship. The Norse also rank 64th nationally and first in the Horizon League with 1.53 aces per set.
MILESTONE TRACKER: In the final tournament of the nonconference slate, junior libero
Ashton Terrill broke into the all-time top-10 list for career digs, surpassing Amber Timmons' mark of 1,205 set between the 2001-04 seasons. Terrill currently has 1,599 digs and is 77digs away from tying Kylee Tarantino (2009-12) for third.
Senior setter
Shelby Olsen recorded her 1,000th career dig at Green Bay on Oct. 19, becoming just the third Norse setter to amass at least 2,000 assists and 1,000 digs in a career. She joins Molly Donovan (1995-98) and Taylor Snyder (2013-16) in the exclusive club.
SCOUTING MICHIGAN: The Wolverines sit at No. 22 in the latest AVCA Poll, having gone 20-10 overall during the regular season and 13-7 in Big Ten action, finishing sixth in the standings. The Wolverines picked up two wins over a ranked opponent this season, both of which were 3-1 victories over then-No. 19/21 Illinois. Sophomore Paige Jones, a unanimous All-Big Ten First Team selection, leads the team with 3.89 kills and 2.23 digs per set, while fellow first teamer MacKenzie Welsh runs the team's offense with 11.05 assists per set. Cori Crocker, who earned second-team honors, adds 1.86 kills per set, but does so at a .436 clip to rank fifth nationally. The senior also leads the team with 0.88 blocks per set. As a team, the Wolverines rank 26th nationally in both kills per set (13.96) and hitting percentage (.268). Defensively, Michigan holds teams to a .206 clip, but ranks near the bottom of the Big Ten with 1.87 blocks and 13.40 digs per set.
Northern Kentucky has met with the Wolverines four times in the history of the two programs, with the lone win coming during the 1980 season. In the last meeting on Aug. 31, 2013, the Wolverines swept the Norse in the first tournament of the year.
SCOUTING KENTUCKY: The Wildcats are fresh off their third-straight Southeastern Conference championship and received the No. 9 overall seed in the NCAA Championship. Kentucky finished the regular season with a 23-6 record, including 16-2 in SEC play. Three-time All-American and two-time SEC Player of the Year Leah Edmond leads the team and ranks 24th nationally with 4.37 kills per set at a .303 hitting percentage. Opposite Edmond is sophomore Alli Stumler, who was named to the All-SEC Team after posting 3.37 kills and 2.43 digs per set. The Wildcats also boast the 2019 SEC Libero of the Year in Gabby Curry, who leads the team with 4.40 digs per set, and All-SEC honoree Madison Lilley dishes out 11.47 assists per set to run the offense. As a team, Kentucky has one of the stingiest defenses in the nation, leading the SEC and ranking ninth nationally with a .150 opponent hitting percentage. The Wildcats counter that by hitting .273 on their side, ranking 22nd nationally.
Kentucky holds an 11-8 advantage in the all-time series, but the two teams have not met since the 1980 campaign. In the last meeting on Nov. 20, 1980, the Norse took a set off the Wildcats, but Kentucky took the match, 2-1.
SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE: The Redhawks enter the tournament with a 23-10 record and went 12-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference to finish second in the standings. SEMO earned the automatic bid out of the OVC after defeating Tennessee Tech, Murray State and Morehead State in the conference tournament, making its sixth NCAA appearance and the first since 2000. Laney Malloy and Maggie Adams both earned All-OVC First-Team honors, with Malloy pacing the team at 3.06 kills and 0.37 aces per set while Adams adds 1.56 kills and 1.14 blocks per set. Claire Ochs, who runs the offense with 9.41 assists per set, and Tara Beilsmith, the team's rookie libero who adds 4.94 digs per set, were both named to the All-OVC Second Team. The Redhawks are also a tough defensive team, holding opponents to a .157 hitting percentage to rank 16th nationally. The team ranks 42nd with 16.58 digs per set and 62nd with 2.37 blocks per set to held the defensive cause, and the Redhawks also keep opponents out of system with 1.68 aces per set, ranking 24th nationally.
The Norse and the Redhawks have met just once, matching up on Oct. 27, 1984. The Redhawks won the only meeting in five sets.
