University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
*Drake
Panthers Open MVC Play With Sweep of Drake
9/16/2005 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 16, 2005
Des Moines, Iowa - Danielle Brazda (Omaha, Neb.) had a match-high 12 kills to help lead the University of Northern Iowa to a 3-0 win over Drake in Missouri Valley Conference volleyball. Game scores were 30-27, 30-13 and 30-18.
Ashten Stelken (Manchester, Iowa) and Laura Rowen (Hansell, Iowa) each added eight kills, while Trista Humpal (New Hampton, Iowa) had six kills and eight blocks on the evening. Patricia Dietz had a match-high 15 digs.
With Drake leading, 22-21, in game one, UNI went on a 6-0 run on the serve of Kristin Belzung (Ankeny, Iowa), with Belzung having a pair of service aces during that key stretch. After Drake rallied to pull within 27-25, Rowen had a kill and a service ace on consecutive points to help UNI get the game one win.
UNI controlled the second game, hitting .516 as a team (18-2-31) to -.029 (7-8-34) for the Bulldogs. Both Stelken and Brazda had five kills in the game. The Panthers ended the game on a flurry, scoring 14 of the game's final 17 points to cruise to a 30-13 victory.
The Panthers never trailed in game three, using three early Brazda kills to jump out to a quick 6-2 lead. UNI went on a 6-0 run to open up an 18-7 advantage and was able to hold its lead the rest of the way. After Drake went on a run of its own to pull within 24-18, UNI answered with six points in a row to win the match, including two on kills by Humpal and three on team blocks.
In team stats, UNI hit .236 as a team (43-17-110) to -.026 (29-32-114) for Drake. The Panthers won the battle of kills (43-29) and blocking (13.0-5.0), while Drake had the advantage in digs (44-39).
With the win, UNI improves to 7-4 overall, 1-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while Drake falls to 0-10, 0-1 in MVC play. The Panthers travel to Omaha, Neb., to face Creighton tomorrow night.
