University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
*Indiana State
Brazda's 22 Kills Lead UNI to Win Over Indiana State
10/23/2004 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 24, 2004
Cedar Falls, Iowa - Freshman middle blocker Danielle Brazda (Omaha, Neb.) had a career-high 22 kills to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Indiana State tonight at the West Gym. Game scores were 30-17, 24-30, 30-17 and 31-29.
Brazda hit .613 on the night (22-3-31), and added four blocks. Junior outside hitter Rachael Tink (Waterloo, Iowa) had 12 kills and 10 digs, while senior right side hitter Shari Vermeer (Sioux Center, Iowa) had 11 kills. Sophomore libero Stephanie May (Dubuque, Iowa) posted a career-high 21 digs.
The Panthers have now won a season-best nine matches in a row and improved to 16-6 on the season, 9-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Indiana State fell to 8-11, 4-7 in conference. With Wichita State's loss tonight at Creighton, second-place UNI stands just one game behind the first-place Shockers and faces WSU next weekend in Wichita.
UNI never trailed in game one, jumping out to an early 10-4 lead. ISU never pulled closer than four the rest of the way, going on a late 7-1 run to seal game one. The Panthers hit .300 in the opening contest (13-4-30) to Indiana State's -.139 (10-15-36).
Indiana State jumped out to a 8-0 lead in the second game, but UNI battled back to eventually tie the score at 16-all. The Panthers never led in game two, however, as the Sycamores used a late 5-1 run to open a 28-22 edge and eventually the 30-24 victory.
The Panthers used a 14-0 run to blow open game three, turning a 14-12 lead into 28-12, all on the serve of Vermeer. Brazda had nine kills in the third game alone, six during the decisive run, and added a pair of blocks.
UNI jumped quickly out of the gates in the fourth game, opening a 7-0 lead. But Indiana State fought back, tying the match at 14-all and eventually taking the lead at 17-16 on a Panther hitting error. The Sycamores held a slight lead for much of the rest of the game, and were serving up 28-26. An ISU service error pulled the Panthers within one, and Abby Lemek (Sioux City, Iowa) had a kill to even the match. The teams traded points to make it 29-all, before Brazda recorded back-to-back kills to clinch the match, 31-29.
UNI, which ranks among the nation's leaders in blocking, had 17 team blocks on the night and hit .247 overall (61-23-154). Indiana State hit just .104 for the match (51-34-164). The Panthers also had nine service aces, five by senior setter Erin Hirsch (Waterloo, Iowa).
The Panthers travel to face SMS next Friday (Oct. 29) and WSU a week from today (Oct. 30). Both matches are scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
