LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kristin Koralewski recorded her fifth straight double-double Friday night as Northern Kentucky University won its 10th consecutive match with a 30-22, 30-21, 33-31 victory over Bellarmine University in Knights Hall.
Koralewski finished with 16 kills and 12 digs for NKU, which improved to 20-8 overall, 13-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Lynne Fischesser added 11 kills, nine digs and three service aces as the Norse reached the 20-win plateau for the 12th straight season.
Koralewski, named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division II National Player of the Week on Monday, has 515 kills this fall and is 86 shy of breaking Bethany Gastright’s NKU single-season record of 600 kills.
Liz Holmes had 11 kills and a .556 hitting percentage for NKU, which has beaten Bellarmine 25 consecutive times. The Norse lead the all-time series with the Knights by a 49-8 margin, and NKU has not lost to Bellarmine since the 1992 GLVC Tournament.
Bellarmine (3-19, 1-14 GLVC) held a 29-26 lead in the third game, but NKU used a 7-2 spurt to complete the sweep. Holmes capped the third-game victory with a kill at match point.
Andrea Lanham continued to run the NKU offense efficiently with 43 assists, and the Norse hit .325 as a team.
NKU will close out the regular season at 2 p.m. Saturday with a non-conference match against the University of Charleston (W. Va.) in Regents Hall. The Norse will open play in the GLVC Tournament at 6 p.m. (EST) Thursday at Evansville, Ind.
NKU will be the third seed and meet sixth-seeded Saint Joseph’s College in the first round. The winner of that match will face second-seeded Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville - which has a first-round bye - at 6 p.m. (EST) Nov. 12.
The GLVC championship match will be played at 3 p.m. (EST) Nov. 13. The University of Southern Indiana will be the No. 1 seed and host for the GLVC Tournament.
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Lynne Fischesser |