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University of Northern Iowa
Western Illinois
Tink Powers UNI to Sweep of Western Illinois
11/9/2004 7:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 9, 2004
Cedar Falls, Iowa - Rachael Tink (Waterloo, Iowa) powered home a season-high 25 kills to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to its third straight win, with a sweep of Western Illinois tonight at the West Gym. Game scores were 30-28, 36-34 and 30-24.
Tink finished just one short of her career high of 26 kills, and her 25 kills were the second-most ever by a Panther in a three-game match. Only current UNI coach Bobbi (Becker) Petersen had more in a sweep, posting 27 in a 3-0 win over Missouri on Sept. 15, 1989. Tink finished the night with a .340 hitting percentage (25-9-47), with her 47 total attacks tying for the second most ever by a Panther in a three-game match. Tink's former teammate Kim Kester had 50 attacks against Creighton on Oct. 13, 2001.
Tink wasn't the only effective outside hitters for the Panthers, as freshman Laura Rowen (Hansell, Iowa) had a career-high 13 kills and hit .500 on the night (13-2-22). UNI finished with 61 kills as a team and hit .309 (61-19-136), its third straight match hitting better than .300 as a squad.
WIU held leads late in each of the first two games, but were unable to win either. Tink brought UNI from 27-26 down in game one, posting three straight kills to put the Panthers at game point. After the Westerwinds answered with a kill, Tink's service ace claimed the opening game for UNI, 30-28.
Western Illinois put up some gaudy offensive numbers of its own in game two to attempt to counter Tink's efforts. WIU hit .360 as a team with just one hitting error, (19-1-50), while the Panthers hit .333 (27-7-60). Each team had opportunities to win the game, but both offenses were clicking down the stretch. At one point late in the game, the teams alternated kills for 12 consecutive points. Finally, on its fifth game point, UNI won the game on a service ace by Erin Hirsch (Waterloo, Iowa). The 36-34 game was the highest rally-scoring game ever for the Panthers since the system was instituted in 2001.
The Panthers used a 6-0 run to open up a 15-8 lead in game three, and WIU would get no closer than five points the rest of the way. Senior Shari Vermeer (Sioux Center, Iowa) had three of her seven kills during that run.
UNI improves to 19-8 overall with the win and closes its home season at 12-1. Western Illinois falls to 12-16 with the loss. The Panthers' next match is this Friday (Nov. 12) when they travel to Omaha, Neb., to face Creighton. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
