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University of Northern Iowa
Evansville
Sampson Leads UNI to Win over Evansville
10/13/2007 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 13, 2007
Cedar Falls, Iowa - Junior outside hitter Amy Sampson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) had a career-high 20 kills to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Evansville Saturday night at the McLeod Center. Game scores were 27-30, 30-16, 30-27 and 30-16.
Three other Panthers reached double-digits in kills, as Ashten Stelken (Manchester, Iowa) had 19, Laura Rowen (Hansell, Iowa) added 15 and Shannon Aschoff (Ankeny, Iowa) had 11. In addition, freshman libero Ellie Blankenship (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) recorded 31 digs, which set a UNI record for the most digs by a player in a four-game match.
On the night, the Panthers had more kills (77-53), digs (90-80), and blocks (10-7) than the Purple Aces, while also posting a better hitting percentage (.255-.157). UNI also had six service aces with just two service errors on the night.
Evansville jumped out the gate quickly, opening an 8-4 lead to start the match. UNI battled back, pulling ahead 12-11 on an Aschoff kill. The match stayed tight during the middle portion of the game, as neither team moved in front by more than two points, until Evansville scored three straight to go up 24-21, and would not give up the lead. UNI pulled within one as late as 27-26, but UE's Megan Spurlock had two of her five first-game kills down the stretch to give the Purple Aces game one, 30-27. Ginta Gabruseva had eight of her 14 kills in the first game.
The score was tied at 3-all in the second game, before UNI scored nine straight points - and forcing Evansville to spend both of its timeouts during the run - to take control, 12-3. Stelken had three kills and Sampson two during that decisive stretch. UNI, which hit .350 in the second game to just .088 for Evansville, held a double-digit lead the rest of the way, winning 30-16.
In game three, with the score even at 15-all, Evansville scored five of the next six points to go up 20-16. Rowen had a service ace and Sampson back-to-back kills to pull UNI within 21-19, but the Purple Aces responded with three straight points to go up 24-19. UNI head coach Bobbi Petersen then called her second timeout, and the Panthers came out of the break and scored four straight points - again getting a pair of kills from Sampson - to pull within 24-23. UE held a 26-24 lead before the Panthers went on a 5-0 run to go up 29-26. After UE stemmed the tide with a kill, Rowen put away the game winner to give the Panthers a 30-27 win.
UNI broke a 6-6 tie in game four with a 7-1 run, opening a 13-7 lead. Evansville pulled within two, 14-12, but that was as close as the Purple Aces would get. The Panthers scored six of the next seven points to open a 20-13 advantage, and pulled away after that to earn the match victory. Sampson had seven kills in 10 swings in the fourth game alone to lead UNI to the 30-16 victory.
With the win, UNI improved its all-time record against Evansville to a perfect 28-0. On the season, the Panthers are now 12-9 overall and 6-3 in Missouri Valley Conference play, while the Purple Aces fall to 10-10, 3-6 in the Valley. The Panthers are next in action on Friday, Oct. 19 when they travel to Des Moines, Iowa to face the Drake Bulldogs.
