Liz Holmes will lead NKU in 2006

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - In the first two weeks of the upcoming volleyball season, Northern Kentucky University will play five teams which qualified for the 2005 NCAA Division II Tournament.

One of those matches is against defending NCAA Division II national champion Grand Valley State on a neutral court on Sept. 2. NKU will also meet four other teams that were in last year’s final national poll - No. 3 Tampa, No. 9 North Alabama, No. 13 Lock Haven and No. 19 Florida Gulf Coast - before starting Great Lakes Valley Conference action Sept. 8 at Saint Joseph’s.

The Norse begin the season Aug. 24 at Fort Myers, Fla., against Florida Gulf Coast (27-4 record last year). The following day, NKU will play at Tampa (29-4 last year) and conclude its Florida trip Aug. 26 with a match against Lock Haven (33-6).

North Alabama, which posted a 36-2 record last season and won the national championship in 2003, will play NKU on Sept. 2 at Ashland, Ohio. That match will follow the Norse’s showdown with Grand Valley State.

NKU will play host to defending GLVC champion Southern Illinois at Edwardsville on Oct. 6. Southern Indiana, the 2004 GLVC champion, visits Regents Hall the following afternoon.

NKU advanced to the GLVC Tournament semifinals last season. The Norse bowed out in a five-game loss to SIUE at Kansas City, Mo.

NKU welcomes back five starters from last year’s 26-7 team to battle the rugged schedule. The Norse will feature junior middle hitter Liz Holmes, who led the team in kills (471), hitting percentage (.351), blocks (88) and service aces (65) last season.

Holmes also had 315 digs and emerged as one of the top players in the nation, earning honorable mention All-America accolades. The 5-foot-10 Holmes has recorded 868 kills and 580 digs in two seasons with the Norse.

A graduate of Mercy High School in Cincinnati, Holmes was tabbed first team All-GLVC as well as All-Great Lakes Region by the AVCA last year.

Sophomore right-side hitter Kristina Eisenmenger recorded 375 kills and a .325 hitting percentage to earn Great Lakes Region Freshman of the Year honors last season. The Notre Dame Academy graduate also earned first team All-GLVC honors.

Senior setter Andrea Lanham, a four-year starter who ranks No. 2 in school history with 3,477 career assists, returns to the lineup. Lanham earned second team All-GLVC honors last season and led the GLVC in service aces at 0.58 sapg.

Also a graduate of Notre Dame Academy, Lanham served up a school-record nine consecutive aces in the opening round of the GLVC Tournament against Lewis last fall.

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