University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
*Illinois State
Panthers Top Illinois State
11/12/2006 7:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2006
Normal, Ill. - Trista Humpal (New Hampton, Iowa) had a career-high 21 kills and Ashten Stelken (Manchester, Iowa) had a career-best 16 kills to lead the University of Northern Iowa to a 3-1 win at Illinois State Sunday afternoon. Game scores were 34-36, 30-26, 30-19 and 30-26. With the win, UNI improves to 24-7 overall, 15-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while Illinois State falls to 15-12 overall, 9-7 in league matches.
In the first game, after UNI pulled within 24-23, neither team held more than a one point lead the rest of the way. The Panthers had six chances to win the game, but each time the Redbirds fought off game point. Finally, with the score tied at 34-all, ISU recorded a kill, and on its first game point, claimed a 36-34 win on a block.
The Panthers controlled the second game, jumping to a 14-7 lead and never giving the lead back. Trailing 28-20, the Redbirds made a charge, scoring six straight points to pull within 28-26. But after a UNI timeout, an ISU hitting error and a kill from Humpal gave the Panthers the 30-26 victory.
Leading 14-13 in game three, UNI went on a 13-2 run to take control and go up two games to one. Danielle Brazda (Omaha, Neb.) had three kills and Humpal two during that stretch. The Panthers eventually won, 30-19, while hitting an impressive .412 (17-3-34).
The Panthers jumped out to a 15-8 lead in game four and appeared to have things in hand. But Illinois State rallied, eventually taking a 22-21 lead. However, a Stelken kill pulled UNI even at 22-all, and after a Redbirds error, Stelken had back-to-back kills to put the Panthers up 25-21. UNI was able to keep its advantage the rest of the way, winning 30-26.
Three UNI players recorded double-digits in digs. Stephanie May (Dubuque, Iowa) led the way with 22, while Laura Rowen (Hansell, Iowa) had 16 and Kristin Belzung (Ankeny, Iowa) had 56 assists.
UNI hit .286 (74-21-185) for the match, while Illinois State hit just .164 (72-39-201). The Panthers, who rank in the top 10 nationally in blocking, had 16 total team blocks while ISU had eight. Brazda led the way with nine individual blocks, while Rowen had eight and Humpal seven.
Today's win snapped a three-game UNI losing streak at Redbird Arena, which will serve as host for the 2006 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference volleyball tournament, held Nov. 24-25. In addition, the win clinched either the first or second seed for the Panthers in the tournament and the first round bye that goes along with being one of the top two seeds.
The Panthers last regular-season game is this Saturday (Nov. 18) when they host Bradley in the first event of the McLeod Center. First serve is set for 8:00 p.m.
