Northern Kentucky volleyball hosts Cleveland State in the penultimate match of the regular season at 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The match will be broadcast on ESPN3 with live streaming available on computers, tablets, smart phones and streaming devices through WatchESPN and the ESPN App.
Northern Kentucky (11-12, 7-7 HL) vs Cleveland State (18-7, 11-3 HL)
Wednesday, Nov. 8 | 6 p.m. ET
Highland Heights, Ky. – Regents Hall
Live Stats | ESPN3 Broadcast
LAST TIME OUT: Last weekend was a tale of two sweeps, with NKU falling in straight sets to Milwaukee before bouncing back the next day in a sweep of UIC. Though the Norse fell in three sets to the Panthers, the scores of the games were indicative of how tight the contest really was as UWM took 26-24, 25-23, 28-26 wins. Laura Crawford had 16 kills in the setback, while Haley Libs added a double-double of 11 kills and 13 digs. Against the Flames, NKU hit .286 with a well-distributed offense that was led by Libs with 13 kills. Crawford added a double-double of 10 kills and 13 digs, and the Norse middles combined for a .428 hitting percentage and 10 blocks.
POSTSEASON PROGNOSTICATIONS: The final two matches of the regular season will prove to be vital to NKU’s postseason possibilities. The Norse currently sit at sixth place in the Horizon League standings, which is the final seeding spot for the Horizon League Championship. NKU is two matches ahead of Milwaukee, but not completely in the clear. If the Panthers win out and the Norse lose the next two matches, Milwaukee would have the head-to-head advantage over NKU based on sets won (4-3). A win in either of the two final matches of the year, either against Cleveland State or Green Bay, would clinch tournament entry for the Norse. Likewise, should Milwaukee drop either of its final two matches against Wright State or Youngstown State, NKU will secure at least the No. 6 seed.
WELCOME TO THE CLUB: On Oct. 27, junior outside hitter Haley Libs recorded her 1,000th career kill, finishing the night with 17 kills and 13 digs for her seventh-straight double-doubles. Libs became the 19th member of NKU’s 1,000-kill club, currently with 1,051 career kills, and is well on her way to joining the 1,000-dig club by the close of her four years at NKU with 788 career digs.
WINNING WAYS: NKU hit a major milestone as a program on Oct. 2, as the Norse posted their 1,000th win in the 42-year team history with a 3-1 win over Youngstown State. The Penguins claimed the opening set, but NKU rattled off the next three sets to remain undefeated in the series history with YSU. Haley Libs led the team with 21 kills and 15 digs, connecting at a .395 clip, while freshman Kaelin Gentile had a career night with 11 kills at a .346 clip. Drew Hendricks had a strong showing with a career-best 13 kills from the left pin.
DOUBLE THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: Both Haley Libs and Laura Crawford are averaging double-doubles on the season, with 13.35 kills/13.39 digs and 10.83 kills/12.17 digs per match, respectively. The duo recorded back-to-back double-doubles in the first two matches of the season against Robert Morris and Duquesne, and again versus Seattle and Sacramento State and later against Wright State and IUPUI.
The Robert Morris match marked a feat that had not been accomplished in nearly a decade. Two players with a double-double in a sweep is a feat in and of itself, but the rarity is even more so when the two players are both attackers. The last time a pair of Norse attackers registered double-doubles in a sweep was on Oct. 21, 2007 against Mount St. Joseph, when current head coach Liz Hart (née Holmes) had 16 kills and 10 digs in the three-set victory while Tristen Dye added 15 kills and 14 digs. The last time two attackers had double-doubles in a victory of any kind was on Nov. 14, 2015 against Cleveland State, courtesy of Libs (17 kills, 13 digs) and Jayden Julian (10 kills, 17 digs).
AND SETTER MAKES THREE: Shelby Olsen has also entered the fold as a double-double machine, averaging 40.78 assists and 12.00 digs per match. Olsen recorded the first double-double of her career against Seattle and went off for three-straight double-doubles throughout the entirety of the NKU Invitational, culminating in career bests of 53 assists and 17 digs (which was bested by 20 digs against Florida A&M on Sept. 16) against Bowling Green.
BACK LINE OF DEFENSE: Northern Kentucky’s defense has become a mainstay of its success, and the Norse are keeping up with the trend of being one of the top defensive teams in the Horizon League. NKU is not only leading the Horizon League in digs per set (17.93), but that number is good for 11th nationally.
SCOUTING CLEVELAND STATE: The Vikings got off to an uncharacteristically rocky start to the Horizon League slate, but have since righted the ship to sit atop the League standings with an 11-3 record. CSU is tied for first with IUPUI, but would earn the top seed in the HL Tournament, along with hosting rights, if both teams were to finish with the same record as Cleveland State holds the head-to-head advantage over the Jaguars after taking both regular-season matches this year. Cleveland State is currently riding an eight-match winning streak, which dates back to Oct. 11 when the Vikings swept NKU at their home.
Cleveland State is leading the Horizon League in both kills per set (14.00) and hitting percentage (.254), both of which rank in the top-40 nationally. Veteran middle blocker Alexis Middlebrooks has one of the highest hitting percentages in the League with a .348 clip, averaging 3.17 kills per set while also contributing defensively with 1.01 blocks per set. The Vikings also have one of the most offensively aggressive setters in the League, with Gina Kilner dishing out 10.86 assists per set while averaging 1.55 kills per set with a .323 hitting percentage. In the back row, Shannon Grega sits at second in the League with 4.66 digs per set, and is also the most formidable server in the League, topping the standings with .41 aces a game.
The Vikings hold a 7-3 advantage in the all-time series, but NKU has picked up just one win over CSU since transitioning to Division I. The Norse are looking to snap a five-match losing skid against the Horizon League’s perennial favorite.
#TakeNotice
Chloe Smith
Assistant Athletic Communications Director
Northern Kentucky University
