Panther Volleyball Visits Loyola, Valparaiso

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This Week's Action

Friday, September 28 – Chicago, Ill. (Gentile Arena)
UNI (RV) at Loyola, 7 p.m. | ESPN+ | AUDIO | STATS

Saturday, September 29 – Valparaiso, Ind. (Athletics-Recreation Center)
UNI (RV) at Valparaiso, 7 p.m. | ESPN+ | AUDIO | STATS

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The Panthers continue Missouri Valley Conference action on the road this weekend with matches at Loyola and Valparaiso.

UNI (2-0), Loyola (3-0) and Valparaiso (3-0) are three of the five MVC programs that enter the weekend undefeated in league play.

The Panthers
• UNI, the Missouri Valley Conference's preseason favorite, is undefeated in league play and travels to play a pair of unbeaten conference co-leaders with matches Friday at Loyola and Saturday at Valparaiso.
• The Panthers opened conference play over the past week with a 3-0 victory last Friday at Drake before posting a 3-0 sweep Monday against Indiana State in the McLeod Center.
• UNI currently leads the Valley in kills per set (14.21) and assists per set (13.38). Karlie Taylor owns a league-high 4.75 kills per set while Rachel Koop tops the conference at 11.25 assists per set.
• Karlie Taylor and Piper Thomas are each averaging an MVC-best 4.83 kills per set in conference matches this year. Rachel Koop holds a league-high 13.00 assists per set in MVC-only action, and Baylee Petersen tops the circuit with 0.75 aces per set within league play.
• Kendyl Sorge begins the weekend with a career average of 4.46 digs per set (2nd in program history), 1,936 total digs (3rd), and a streak of 434 consecutive sets played to start her Panther career.
• Piper Thomas enters the trip two solo blocks shy of Denise Cuttell's program record (90) and one kill shy of tying current Panther assistant coach Kim Davis (1,272) for eighth in program history.
• UNI is receiving votes nationally in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Panthers picked up two votes for 23rd place and finished with a total of six points from this week's voting.
• The annual UNI Volleyball Golf Outing will begin Sunday, September 30 at 12:30 p.m. at Fox Ridge Golf Course. More details and registration information can be found online - http://bit.ly/2OTxVZl.
• The 2018 UNI Volleyball Meet & Greet is scheduled for Wednesday, October 3. The annual event will be held at Pepper's Grill & Sports Pub from 7 p.m. through 8:30 p.m.
• UNI returns four of seven starters from last year, including Honorable Mention All-America honorees Karlie Taylor and Piper Thomas, MVC All-Freshman pick Jaydlin Seehase and libero Kendyl Sorge.
• 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 also posted 33 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).
• Head coach Bobbi Petersen is in her 19th year at the helm of the Panther program with a record of 469-147. She has led the Panthers to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances.

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

Listen Here
Friday at Loyola – KXEL 1540
Saturday at Valparaiso – KXEL 1540

WATCH LIVE
Both of UNI's matches this weekend will be broadcast on ESPN+.

"RAMBLE ON"
Loyola is 11-4 overall, and the Ramblers have opened conference play at 3-0 for the first time since 2004.
Heather Kocken owns 59 blocks for Loyola which tops the Valley at 2.50 blocks per set as a team.
UNI is 17-0 all-time against Loyola with sweeps in each of the last four meetings.

"'SADERS OF THE LOST ARC"
Valparaiso is on a record-tying 16-2 start to the season and is tied for first place with Loyola at 3-0 in MVC action.
Brittany Anderson, who also plays softball at Valpo, paces the Crusaders with 703 assists and a team-high-tying 15 service aces.
UNI is 8-0 all-time versus Valpo featuring a five-set thriller at the McLeod Center last October.

PANTHER STATE
This is the 29th consecutive season that at least 10 Iowa natives are on the UNI roster including the second year in a row that 14 of the 15 Panthers are from Iowa.
Each of UNI's last 7,864 points played dating back through last season have been played with only Iowans on the court.

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Panther Volleyball Visits Loyola, Valparaiso

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Players Mentioned

Rachel Koop

Baylee Petersen

Jaydlin Seehase

Kendyl Sorge

Karlie Taylor

Piper Thomas

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