LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Nicole Salisbury, Kristin Koralewski and Maggie Pugh combined for 40 kills and a .514 hitting percentage Wednesday night as the Northern Kentucky University volleyball team defeated Bellarmine University, 30-22, 30-8, 30-18, in Knights Hall.
Salisbury collected 17 kills and a .441 hitting percentage for NKU, which improved to 17-10 overall, 8-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Pugh added 10 kills and a .769 hitting percentage as the Norse defeated Bellarmine for the 23rd consecutive time.
NKU now leads the all-time series with Bellarmine by a 47-8 margin, and the Norse have not lost to the Knights since the 1992 GLVC Tournament.
Koralewski finished with a double-double (13 kills, 12 digs), three service aces and a .478 hitting percentage. The Norse converted 60 kills and had just five attack errors in 105 attempts for a .524 team hitting percentage.
Cammi Welter added eight kills and a .583 hitting percentage for NKU, which hit .654 in the second game with 17 kills and no errors in 26 attempts. NKU setter Sara Taylor finished with 48 assists and 10 digs, while teammate Kaliana Kalache totaled seven kills, four service aces and a .467 hitting percentage.
Chrissie Parker led Bellarmine (4-20 overall, 1-9 GLVC) with 12 kills.
As a result of the victory, NKU moved into a first-place tie with the University of Indianapolis (20-9 overall, 8-2 GLVC) in the GLVC Blue Division. Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville is atop the GLVC Green Division with a 7-1 record and is currently the leader for the No. 1 seed in the GLVC Tournament.
The team with the best conference winning percentage will earn the No. 1 seed for the GLVC Tournament, which will be played Nov. 13-15.
NKU is ranked No. 3 in the latest NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region ratings, which were released Wednesday. The top six teams in that poll will advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament in November.
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Nicole Salisbury |