Lost in the shuffle of Carrie Underwood, the arena’s grand opening ceremony and the best Division II Men’s Soccer team in the United States is the volleyball team.

They haven’t been touched since Sept. 13 and, as a result, they’ve cracked into the Top 25.

Turns out that a program can survive without a candidate for NCAA Division II “Woman of the Year,” and easily the best player in school history, Liz Holmes.

The Norse, mind you, have only three losses. The Norse, mind you, don’t have a bad loss to date. With two losses in the Sunshine State – to the then-Top 10 foes, Florida Southern and Tampa – and a rather disappointing sweep by Lewis behind them, the Norse are sitting pretty at 15-3 and in a virtual tie for second place in the GLVC.

Again, all without the presence of NKU’s candidate for Woman of the Year, who is now a graduate assistant on the bench next to Carlos Chia. Not a bad mentor, not a bad coach and someone who has played with most of these women.

All in all it’s been an auspicious start.

Carlos Chia, as I’ve mentioned before, has taken the Dave Bezold route; using a mixture of transfers and home-grown talent, the Norse find themselves ensconced in the Top 25.

Winona State transfer and sophomore Kim Nemcek, has found her niche as a middle hitter.

One of the three six-foot-plus trees on the team, and transfer Kelsey Wesaw has provided nearly 200 kills, second on the team and is second in hitting.

Kristina Eisenmeneger, a Notre Dame grad, Norse outside hitter and the closest thing to Liz Holmes on this campus, is leading the GLVC in kills and is quickly climbing the school’s all-time record list for that stat.

Sometimes it’s better to look beyond your backyard for the best talent.

There must be something in the water in this little college town.