HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky volleyball takes on the field at the WKU Volleyball Invitational for the final weekend of nonconference action, Friday and Saturday, Sept. 20-21. The Norse play in the tournament's opening match on Friday against the host Hilltoppers, who are receiving votes in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, with first serve set for 11 a.m. CT/noon ET. On Saturday, NKU plays reigning Southern Conference champion Samford at 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET before capping off the tournament with Tulsa at 3 p.m. CT/4 p.m. ET. The match against Western Kentucky will be streamed via Facebook Live.
 
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse hosted a competitive tournament last weekend, welcoming Ball State, Notre Dame and Cincinnati to Regents Hall. NKU fell in a heartbreaker to the Cardinals and dropped a tight four-setter to the Fighting Irish, but bounced back with the largest win in program history with a five-set victory over the Bearcats. Cincinnati is receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll and features All-American Jordan Thompson, who was the USA's top point scorer in the Olympic qualifying tournament. Sophomore outside hitter Anna Brinkmann put on quite the show in the victory, putting away a career-high 23 kills with just one error, and freshman Reilly Briggs hit .409 with 11 kills in her first full match for the Norse. NKU had a tremendous effort at the net, out-blocking the Bearcats 16.0-8.5, led by Bailey Western with eight rejections while Briggs added six.
 
NORSE VS. THE NATION: NKU ranks among the nation's top-100 in several statistical categories through two weeks of competition. Most notably, the Norse are the No. 45 in the nation when it comes to opponent hitting percentage, as NKU has kept its opponents to a .177 clip. That number is aided by NKU's work at the net, as the Norse also rank 45th with 2.46 blocks per set. NKU also ranks 53rd in digs per set (15.97), 70th in kills per set (13.31) and 98th in aces per set (1.56). Ashton Terrill ranks 48th nationally with 4.83 digs per set, and Bailey Western is No. 68 in the nation with 1.25 blocks per set. Miranda Wucherer leads the team from the service line, ranking 89th nationally and first in the Horizon League with 14 total aces.
 
SCOUTING WESTERN KENTUCKY: The Hilltoppers will be the second-straight team that Northern Kentucky will face that is receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Poll. Western Kentucky boasts a 10-1 record on the year, with the only loss coming against No. 24 Louisville. The Hilltoppers' success has come from a combination of offensive efficiency and defensive prowess, as WKU ranks 53rd nationally with a .267 hitting percentage and 14th in opponent hitting percentage (.155). Middle blocker Lauren Matthews leads the team with 3.63 kills per set, connecting at an impressive .390 clip to go with 1.21 blocks per set. Paige Briggs is not far behind with 3.29 kills per set with a .271 hitting percentage and 3.26 digs per set, and Sophia Cerino adds 1.97 kills per set, but also ranks 19th in the nation with 0.63 aces per set. Nadia Dieudonne runs the offense with 10.92 assists per set, ranking 32nd nationally, and also averages 2.53 digs per set.
 
SCOUTING SAMFORD: The Bulldogs sport a 6-2 record this year, falling in five sets to Appalachian State, only to bounce back with a 3-2 upset of No. 24 Arizona to begin a six-match winning streak. Samford is coming off a 3-1 victory over South Alabama, a team that Northern Kentucky also defeated in four sets in the season opener on Aug. 30. Samford is led by the pin tandem of the 2018 SoCon Freshman of the Year, Lauren Deaton, and Kelsi Hobbs, who average 3.72 and 3.59 kills per set, respectively. Sophomore setter Corinne Meglic has settled in well after replacing Samford's AVCA All-Region honoree from a season ago, and is averaging 11.07 assists per set to rank 19th in the nation. As a team, Samford's strongest statistic is its opponent hitting percentage, as the Bulldogs rank 30th in the nation by keeping teams to a .163 hitting percentage. Samford also ranks 61st with 2.31 blocks per set.

NKU has played one match against Samford in the history of the two programs. The Norse swept the Bulldogs, 25-18, 25-23, 25-23 on Sept. 5, 2014. 
 
SCOUTING TULSA: The Golden Hurricane sits at 6-4 on the season. Freshman Dilara Gedikoglu has been leading the way for Tulsa with 4.13 kills per set, a number that puts the rookie at No. 55 nationally, while also adding 2.82 digs per set to rank second behind libero Taylor Horsfall, who is scooping up 5.16 dps to rank 36th nationally. Callie Cook is the next leading attacker, averaging 2.71 kills at a .383 clip to go with 1.39 blocks per set, ranking in the top-55 nationally in both hitting percentage and bps. Though Tulsa's key players have put up strong numbers, the Golden Hurricane is hitting at a .189 clip while opponents have hit .211 in matches.
 
UNCHARTED TERRITORY: Northern Kentucky will be playing Western Kentucky and Tulsa for the first time in program history.