University of Northern Iowa
Iowa State
Vermeer's 24 Kills Lead UNI to Win at Iowa State
10/21/2004 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 20, 2004
Ames, Iowa - Senior right side hitter Shari Vermeer (Sioux Center, Iowa) tied her career high with 24 kills to help the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Iowa State Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum. Game scores were 21-30, 30-27, 35-33, and 30-26.
With her 20th kill of the night, Vermeer topped the 1,000 kill plateau for her career. She becomes the 15th player in UNI history to top 1,000 kills. UNI has now won 28 straight overall against intrastate volleyball opponents, and 12 straight against Iowa State. Panther head coach Bobbi Petersen improved to 17-0 in her career against Drake, Iowa and Iowa State.
Rachael Tink (Waterloo, Iowa) had 16 kills and 15 digs, while Laura Rowen (Hansell, Iowa) had 10 kills. Stephanie May (Dubuque, Iowa) led the Panthers with 16 digs, and Erin Hirsch (Waterloo, Iowa) set a career high with 65 assists.
The Cyclones went in front for good in the first game 10-9, part of a 5-0 run that gave ISU a 13-9 lead. The Panthers would get no closer than three points the rest of the way, as they dropped the first game, 30-21. Katie Jessen had six kills and Erin Boeve five for ISU in the game, as ISU hit .371 (17-4-35) as a team. UNI hit just .081 (12-9-37), with Tink and Vermeer having three kills each.
UNI claimed a 30-27 victory in the second game. The Panthers took the lead for good on a Tink kill down the line to make the score 25-24. Tink had two more kills down the stretch to help the Panthers even the match at 1-1. Vermeer had eight kills in the second game and Tink seven for the Panthers.
The Panthers battled from behind to win the third game. Trailing 29-27, the Panthers got help with a Cyclone service error, and then Vermeer had a kill to even the score at 29-all. Two points later, Iowa State thought it had won the match, but its attack was ruled wide to even the match at 30-all. The teams traded points until UNI held a 34-33 edge, and Vermeer's roll shot from the right side gave the Panthers the third game victory, 35-33.
UNI came from behind again in the fourth game. Trailing 22-20, the Panthers went on a 5-2 run to take a 25-23 edge. The Panthers were able to trade points the rest of the way, with Vermeer and Danielle Brazda (Omaha, Neb.) sealing the match with a block.
With the win, UNI improves to 14-6 on the season, while Iowa State falls to 8-11. UNI's next match will be this Friday night (Oct. 22), when it hosts Illinois State at the West Gym. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
