University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Kansas State
#15 Kansas State Sweeps UNI
9/11/2004 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 11, 2004
Minneapolis, Minn. - Freshman middle blocker Danielle Brazda (Omaha, Neb.) had a career-high 15 kills, but it was not enough as 15th-ranked Kansas State defeated the University of Northern Iowa, 3-0, Saturday afternoon at the Diet Coke Classic. Game scores were 30-27, 30-23, 30-23.
Brazda had the best night of her young Panther career, hitting 15-0-21 for a sizzling percentage of .714, while fellow middle blocker Trista Humpal (New Hampton, Iowa) hit .368 (9-2-19) and added eight blocks. The Panthers had 11 team blocks for the game.
"When you play a quality team like Kansas State, you can't let them go on extended runs," said UNI head coach Bobbi Petersen. "KSU is a team that capitalizes on every error, and that was the difference in the match. Every time we made a mistake they won the point."
In a tightly-fought first game, Kansas State was able to use a 4-0 run late to open up a 27-23 lead. However, UNI rallied to pull within 28-27 on the strength of three blocks. But a Panther hitting error and a kill by KSU's Sandy Werner sealed the 30-27 win for the Wildcats. Danielle Brazda had six kills in as many attacks in the opening game for the Panthers.
Kansas State pulled to a five point lead early in game two, 11-6. The Wildcats maintained their advantage throughout, before a late UNI rally pulled the Panthers within 24-23. However, after KSU called its second timeout, the Wildcats were able to run off the final six points of the game to win, 30-23. The final five points were scored on UNI hitting errors.
The Wildcats quickly jumped to a 14-7 lead in the third game, and held the Panthers off the rest of the way. The closest UNI would get the rest of the way was five points, 23-18, before KSU went on a 6-1 run to effectively seal the victory.
UNI out-blocked Kansas State, 11 to eight, and the match was even in digs at 39 all. But KSU had 57 kills to UNI's 43, and hit .336 (57-17-119) to the Panthers' .179 (43-23-112) for the match.
With the win, Kansas State improves to 5-3 while UNI falls to 3-3. The Panthers' next match will be tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. when they face 5th-ranked Minnesota in the concluding match of the Diet Coke Classic.
