McKenna Foster posted a match-high 12 kills and hit for a .423 attack percentage as Stetson defeated visiting Northern Kentucky 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-23) Friday night at the Edmunds Center.

The Hatters (13-6, 5-1 A-Sun) won their fifth match in a row and will face undefeated Lipscomb (6-0 A-Sun) at 1 p.m. Saturday with a chance to tie for first place in the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Stetson outhit NKU (13-6, 3-3 A-Sun) .248 to .115 and blocked 10 Norse attack attempts over the three sets.

"Overall it was a great day," Stetson head coach Kristina Hernandez said. "Offensively and even blocking-wise, it was the best performance we have had in conference so far. We spent the past two days just working on our blocking defense because NKU just has a lot of offensive weapons. Our team responded well and did a phenomenal job of just making sure that we were discipline on our blocking and serving aggressively to dictate the game the way we wanted to."

Kayla Weller distributed the ball well once again, collecting 34 assists to advance her career total to 2,497. Madison Akins recorded a 11-kill, 10-dig double-double, while middle blockers Erika White and Shelby Connors each collected five blocks.

"(Kayla) did a great job of getting Shelby in there and Erika as well," Hernandez said.  "I think that is the strongest we have seen of (Erika) in terms of hitting really aggressively. It freed up our outside hitters, especially McKenna."

Stetson led throughout most of the first two sets, but NKU set the tone early after the intermission. The Norse built a 15-9 lead in the third set before Stetson chipped away, eventually using a 4-0 run to take a 20-19 lead. Later, with the score knotted at 23, Connors and Jessica Armstrong collected back-to-back kills to seal the win for the Hatters.

"I think that is the first time I have seen us be down in a set and work all the way back up, and not just be flat the whole set," Hernandez said. "I am really proud of our overall team effort tonight. It was a really great job."

Stetson also improved its home record to 4-0 on the season.

"This win gives us a lot of momentum and a lot of confidence going into tomorrow," Foster said. "It was another win on our home court defending our gym."

Jenna Ruble posted 10 kills and Mel Stewart picked up 20 digs for NKU.

Notes: With her five blocks, Shelby Connors took over the A-Sun volleyball lead in blocks-per-set (0.96).