UNI Volleyball Opens at USC Trojan Invite

GAME NOTES l LIVE AUDIO l LIVE VIDEO l LIVE STATS l RADIO KXEL

ABOUT THE PANTHERS
• UNI enters the first weekend of the season after finishing last season with a 27-9 record and closing out the season in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
• The Panthers were picked to finish first in the Missouri Valley Conference after finishing second last year.
• UNI returns four of seven starters from a season ago, including MVC All-Freshman honoree Jaydlin Seehase and kill leader and First-Team All-MVC honoree Piper Thomas, but must replace First-Team All-MVC honoree Bri Weber and MVC Setter of the Year Heather Hook.
• The Panthers rank No. 8 all-time in NCAA Division I winning percentage (.773). UNI trails only Penn State (.863), Hawaii (.852), Nebraska (.843), Florida (.833), Stanford (.813), BYU (.778) and UCLA (.774).
• UNI, Hawaii, Nebraska, Stanford, Penn State and UCLA lead the nation with 37 consecutive non-losing seasons in NCAA Division I volleyball.
• UNI has posted 32 straight NCAA Division I winning seasons – the fifth-longest active streak in the nation behind Hawaii (37), Nebraska (37), Penn State (37) and Stanford (37).
• The Panthers consistently have ranked among the national leaders in attendance, including ranking No. 13 in the nation in 2015 with an average of 2,277 fans per home match.
• Head coach Bobbi Petersen is entering her 19th year at the helm of the Panther program with a record of 461-141. She has led the Panthers to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances.

OPENING WEEKEND
With a bang! UNI opens the season with three matches against three teams in the top 15 in the NCAA DI AVCA Preseason Poll in Chrieghton, USC and Kentucky.

RADIO COVERAGE
Live radio coverage of the UNI Panther volleyball team can be found on www.UNIPanthers.com and KXEL (1540-AM). All audio this year will be free of charge (no subscription service).

Chris Kleinhans-Schulz will again be the play-by-play voice for the Panther volleyball squad.

Live Audio Coverage Schedule
Fri. vs. Creighton - KXEL (1540-AM)
UNIPanthers.com
Sat. vs. USC - KXEL (1540-AM)
UNIPanthers.com
Sat. vs. Kentucky - KXEL (1540-AM)
UNIPanthers.com

ABOUT No. 13 CREIGHTON
The Jays went 26-7 are the defending BIG EAST Conference Regular-Season and Tournament Champions. Jaali Winters and Taryn Kloth are senior outside hitters and All-Americans. Junior Brittany Witt was also named an honorable mention All-American after being named 2017 BIG EAST Libero of the Year.

Creighton has seven newcomers in the No. 10 ranked recruiting class in the country.

ABOUT No. 10 USC
The first of two 2017 Elite Eight opponents of the weekend for UNI, the Trojans went 25-10 last season. Junior Khalia Lanier was a First-Team All-American last season for USC. The women of Troy will be led by a new head coach in Brent Crouch after the retirement of legendary coach Mick Haley.

The Panthers topped USC 3-1 in 2017.

ABOUT No. 5 KENTUCKY
2017 saw Kentucky go 29-4 and share the SEC title. They lost to eventual national champion Nebraska in the Elite Eight. Leah Edmond was a First Team All-American a year ago. Kentucky was picked to win the SEC and is ranked fifth.

In 2017, UNI fell to Kentucky 3-2 in a back and forth battle.

STIFF NON-CONFERENCE
Head coach Bobbi Petersen has lined up a loaded non-conference schedule that will feature eight matches against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25.

Ranked or Receiving Votes
#5 Kentucky
#12 Illinois
#10 Southern California
#13 Creighton (two matches)
#21 Iowa State
RV Washington State
RV Marquette

13 CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF APR RECOGNITION, PERFECTION
For the past 13 years the NCAA has recognized teams in the top-10 percent of the Academic Progress Report and the UNI volleyball team has been on the list all 13 years.

In fact, the UNI volleyball team has had a perfect score of 1,000 in each of the 13 years.

UNI volleyball is one of 85 programs in the nation to have earned the recognition in each of the 13 years teams have been honored.

POLLING NUMBERS
UNI has been ranked in the AVCA Top 25 110 times in program history - the most in the Missouri Valley Conference.
By comparison, the rest of the current teams in the MVC have been ranked 52 times (Wichita State - 35; Illinois State - 14; Missouri State - 3).
In the state of Iowa, UNI's 110 poll rankings puts it on top. Iowa State has been ranked in 77 polls, while Iowa has been ranked in one.
UNI has been ranked in the top 10 in the AVCA poll on 25 occasions. Wichita State has twice been ranked in the top 10 for the second-best number in the MVC.
UNI's highest ranking in the AVCA Top 25 is No. 6 (Sept. 15, 2003).

17 MVC REGULAR SEASON TITLES
The Panthers have tallied 17 MVC regular season titles through the years.

UNI won the regular season title in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013.

19 NCAA APPEARANCES
In its 19 trips to the NCAA tournament, UNI has posted 15 wins, advancing to at least the second round 12 times.

UNI has advanced as far as the NCAA's Sweet 16 three times since 1999. In 2002, the Panthers went into the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the East Region.

PANTHERS PICKED TO WIN MVC IN PRESEASON POLL
The Panthers earned one first-place vote in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference coaches poll.

UNI is projected to finish first, ahead of Missouri State, Illinois State and Drake.

2018 PRESEASON POLL
Rank Team (1st-place votes) Points
1. UNI (7)........................................ 95
2. Missouri State (3)...................... 89
3. Illinois State............................... 84
4. Drake ......................................... 69
5. Valparaiso.................................. 53
6. Indiana State.............................. 50
7. Bradley....................................... 35
8. Loyola......................................... 33
9. Evansville................................... 23
10. Southern Illinois ..................... 19

FAN FAVORITES
The Panthers consistently have ranked among the national leaders in attendance, including ranking No. 15 in the nation in 2017 with an average of 2,437 fans per home match.

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