HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University volleyball team will meet the University of Wisconsin-Parkside at 6 p.m. Thursday night in the first round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament at Romeoville, Ill.
NKU - which has won five consecutive GLVC championships - enters the GLVC Tournament as the No. 4 seed. The Norse - 20-9 overall - finished 11-4 in the GLVC this season.
Wisconsin-Parkside owns a 16-10 overall record, and the fifth-seeded Rangers finished 9-6 in the GLVC. NKU defeated Wisconsin-Parkside in both meetings during the regular season, and the Norse are 15-0 all-time against the Rangers.
Lewis University (24-3 overall, 12-3 GLVC), which defeated Quincy University on Saturday to capture the No. 1 seed, is the host for the GLVC Tournament. The University of Southern Indiana (22-7 overall, 11-3 GLVC) is the No. 2 seed, and Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville (21-9 overall, 11-3 GLVC) is the No. 3 seed.
The winner of the GLVC Tournament will receive an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament.
WELTER APPROACHES MILESTONE: NKU junior right-side hitter Cammi Welter enters the GLVC Tournament with 999 career kills. Welter is looking to become just the ninth player in Norse history to reach 1,000 career kills.
A graduate of McAuley High School in Cincinnati, Welter has 362 kills this season.
NKU AGAINST UWP THIS SEASON: On Sept. 21, Cammi Welter and Kristin Koralewski both recorded 16 kills as NKU defeated Wisconsin-Parkside, 18-30, 30-24, 30-18, 30-18, in Regents Hall.
Welter also finished with a .438 hitting percentage and 11 digs, while Koralewski added 15 digs and a .387 hitting percentage. Sara Taylor recorded 52 assists, four service aces and 13 digs for NKU. Nicole Salisbury added 11 kills for the Norse.
In the second meeting on Oct. 18, Welter had 25 kills, 20 digs and a .500 hitting percentage as NKU defeated Wisconsin-Parkside, 30-27, 26-30, 30-25, 31-33, 15-9, at Kenosha, Wis. Maggie Pugh added 22 kills, five blocks and a .486 hitting percentage.
Nicole Salisbury finished with 13 kills and 12 digs, while Sara Taylor recorded a double-double with 72 assists and 12 digs. NKU hit .263 in the fifth game, compared to just .130 for Wisconsin-Parkside. The Norse had just two hitting errors in the deciding game, and the Rangers converted eight of 23 attempts with five errors in the final game.
GLVC TOURNAMENT HISTORY: NKU has won 15 consecutive matches in the GLVC Tournament. The Norse have not lost in the GLVC Tournament since Nov. 16, 1996, when Indiana-Purdue University at Fort Wayne posted a 15-12, 14-16, 15-12, 15-13 win over NKU in the championship match at Fort Wayne, Ind.
NKU owns a total of seven GLVC championships (1985, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001).
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Cammi Welter