Northern Kentucky volleyball enters the postseason this weekend with the 2017 Horizon League Championship, hosted by Cleveland State. The Norse will play the first round against No. 3 seed IUPUI on Friday, Nov. 17 at 3 p.m. ET. Should the Norse advance, the team will play No. 1 seed Cleveland State on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 3 p.m. All matches of the Horizon League Championship will be broadcast on the ESPN3 platform with streaming available on computers, tablets, smart phones and streaming devices through Watch ESPN and the ESPN App.
No. 6 Northern Kentucky (11-14, 7-9 HL) vs No. 3 IUPUI (16-13, 12-4 HL)
Friday, Nov. 17 | 3 p.m. ET
Cleveland – Woodling Gym
Tournament Central | Live Stats | ESPN3 Broadcast
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse earned the No. 6 seed into the tournament following a 3-1 setback to Green Bay on Nov. 11. NKU had a tremendous third set, dismantling the Phoenix 25-13 and holding Green Bay to -.059 in the frame. Haley Libs led the Norse with 16 kills and added nine digs, while Kaelin Gentile also hit double-digit kills with 10 terminations.
POSTSEASON HONORS: Junior outside hitter Haley Libs was named to the All-Horizon League Team for the third time in her career, while middle blocker Bailey Western was honored on the All-Freshman Team. Libs led the team against League opponents with 3.60 kills per set and 3.35 digs per set, ranking fifth in the former. Western continued to improve her offensive play throughout the season, finishing League play with 1.83 kills at a .262 clip and also had nearly a block per set. Libs was also honored for her work in the classroom as part of the HL All-Academic Team, as were McKenzie Eskridge and Kelly Turner.
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 over 800 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 13.52 kills/13.32 digs and 10.84 kills/12.36 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 also entered the fold as a double-double machine, averaging 41.16 assists and 12.04 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 (17.88), but that number is good for 16th nationally.
SCOUTING IUPUI: The Jaguars earned the No. 3 seed in their first year in the Horizon League after going 12-4. IUPUI is led offensively by All-Horizon League honorees Kori Waelbroeck and Haley Hoffman, who both hit over .260 will at least 1.80 kills per set. A southpaw six-rotation opposite, Waelbroeck is IUPUI’s primary weapon, averaging 3.73 kills per set along with 2.73 digs and 1.03 blocks per set. The Jaguars also have a dynamic outside hitter in Gabby Fisher, who averages 2.50 kills per set and is IUPUI’s secondary go-to hitter behind Waelbroeck.
As a team, IUPUI is a rounded defensive squad, ranking second in the League in blocks per set (2.71) and fourth in digs per set (16.71), which both rank in the top-50 nationally. The Jaguars are also efficient offensively with a .222 hitting percentage.
NKU recently renewed the series with the Jaguars this season when IUPUI joined the Horizon League, and the all-time series is tied at 2-2. IUPUI claimed both meetings this season in four sets.
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Chloe Smith
Assistant Athletic Communications Director
Northern Kentucky University
