Panther Volleyball Sweeps No. 13 Creighton to Open Season

Friday, August 24

Los Angeles, California

7 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

1-0

#13 Creighton

1-1

Creighton

Northern Iowa

Panther Volleyball Sweeps No. 13 Creighton to Open Season

8/24/2018 10:09:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

LOS ANGELES – It didn't take long for the UNI Volleyball team to pick up its first win over a ranked foe in the 2018 season. The Panthers swept No. 13 Creighton 25-23, 25-22, 25-19 Friday evening in the second match of the USC Trojan Invite at the Galen Center in Los Angeles.

Creighton entered Friday evening's match against UNI with a little bit of swagger after knocking off No. 5 Kentucky earlier in the day. The Panthers took no heed of the earlier upset and controlled the match from the opening serve. The Panthers hit consistently throughout the match, played solid defense and limited errors to earn the win.

In set one, the Panthers went up 9-6 but the Jays rallied to tie it at 9-9. The set remained close until the Panthers rattled off four-straight points to take a 22-18 lead. UNI led 24-19 before Creighton went on a run of its own to cut the lead to 24-23 before Karlie Taylor notched a kill to end the first set.

The second set was again a back and forth battle, but the Panthers pulled out the 25-22 win.

In the final set, Creighton took an early lead, but UNI went on a 6-1 run to take an 11-9 lead. The Panthers never trailed again and cruised to the 25-19 win in set three to earn the sweep.

Taylor led the way with 18 kills and a strong .351 attack percentage. Jaydlin Seehase notched 12 kills. Kate Busswitz notched seven kills and four solo blocks.

Rachel Koop had tallied a team-high 38 assists. Kendyl Sorge tallied 13 digs to lead the defense.

The Panthers notched nine total team blocks and tallied five aces, led by Taylor Hedges with three.

The win extends the UNI advantage in the all-time series against former conference foe Creighton to 42-9. The Panthers and Jays play again this season on Sept. 15 at the Illinois Tournament.

UNI continues the early season onslaught Saturday with a pair of top-10 opponents. The Panthers play No. 10 USC at 12:30 p.m. and Kentucky at 7 p.m. Fans can listen live to the action on KXEL 1450 or watch on the USC Pac-12 Network live stream.