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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Different season, same result. Nothing - with the exception of uniform styles - seems to change when Northern Kentucky University plays Bellarmine in volleyball. Going into Tuesday night's Great Lakes Valley Conference match between those two rivals in Regents Hall, NKU owned 29 consecutive victories against Bellarmine. The winning streak is now at 30 after NKU's 23-30, 30-17, 30-17, 30-18 victory over Bellarmine. The Norse, ranked No. 19 nationally in the NCAA Division II poll, improved to 13-2 overall, 2-0 in the GLVC. NKU bounced back from a first-game setback by combining strong blocking at the net and effective serving for the remainder of the match. Senior defensive specialist Brittany Dixon served up four aces to spark the Norse, who totaled five of their 12 service errors in the first game. Senior middle hitter Liz Holmes finished with 16 kills and a .355 hitting percentage for NKU, which attacked at a .224 clip as a team. Holmes, named GLVC Player of the Week on Monday, increased her career total to 1,518 kills. Kristina Eisenmenger added 12 kills and hit .400, and the junior right-side hitter now has 977 career kills at NKU. Natalie Forbes collected a double-double with 42 assists and 12 digs. The junior setter also served up three aces and added four kills. Freshman middle hitter Morgan Elyea caused plenty of problems for Bellarmine the entire evening with her blocking (eight block assists). Elyea and Eisenmenger - seven block assists - were particularly effective in helping to contain Bellarmine outside hitter Chelsea Bibelhauser, who finished with nine kills and eight errors in 34 attempts (.029). Elyea also finished with six kills and a .455 hitting percentage. Chelsea Clark added seven kills and 10 digs for NKU, while Tristen Dye collected eight kills and a team-leading 16 digs. NKU is now 54-8 all-time against Bellarmine, which dropped to 3-6 overall, 1-1 in the GLVC. NKU has not lost to Bellarmine since the 1992 GLVC Tournament. NKU plays host to Wisconsin-Parkside at 7 p.m. Friday. The Norse face defending GLVC Tournament champion Lewis at 3 p.m. Saturday in Regents Hall. |
