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University of Northern Iowa
Missouri State
Panthers Sweep Missouri State
11/17/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 17, 2007
Cedar Falls, Iowa - In front of a raucous crowd of 2,523 at the McLeod Center, the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team posted a 3-0 sweep over Missouri State Saturday night. Game scores in favor of the Panthers were 30-22, 30-25 and 30-18.
With the win, UNI earned the second seed and accompanying first-round bye at this weekend's State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Championship, hosted by Missouri State in Springfield, Mo. With UNI's win over MSU tonight, it forged a three-way tie for second place between the Panthers, Bears and Creighton (each with 14-4 conference records). By virtue of the league's tie-breaking procedures, UNI earned the #2 seed, Creighton the #3 seed and Missouri State the #4 seed. Wichita State earned the top seed, while Illinois State is the #5 seed and Southern Illinois the #6 seed.
Missouri State opened a 9-5 lead to start the match, forcing UNI head coach Laura Rowen (Hansell, Iowa) - to extend its advantage to 22-16, and the Panthers would eventually post a 30-22 win. UNI hit .300 (15-3-40) in game one to just .106 (16-11-47) by Missouri State.
The Panthers used three early kills from Ashten Stelken (Manchester, Iowa) in game two to go in front 6-2. After an MSU timeout, the Bears rallied, pulling even for the first time at 12-all on a block of a Rowen attack. The match stayed tight for the middle stretch of the game, when UNI got back-to-back kills from Kristin Belzung (Ankeny, Iowa) and Danielle Brazda (Omaha, Neb.) to go in front 25-21. Shannon Aschoff (Ankeny, Iowa) had three kills down the stretch to keep the Bears at bay, as UNI opened a 2-0 lead with a 30-25 win.
Missouri State held a 14-12 lead in game three before the Panthers went on a decisive run. Following a Bears service error that made the score 14-13 in favor of MSU, Belzung took the ball to serve - and proceeded to lead the Panthers to 11 straight points. After Belzung's service run ended, the Panthers held a 24-15 lead, and were able to cruise to the 30-18 victory. UNI hit .350 (16-2-40) in game three to just .191 (15-6-47) by MSU.
Stelken led the way for UNI with 11 kills, while Rowen had nine kills and 21 digs. Sara Staubach had a match-high 12 kills for Missouri State. Brazda had five block assists for the Panthers, which put her into the #1 spot all-time at UNI in total blocks. She now has 716 blocks for her career, surpassing the previous record of 711 held by former Panther All-American Molly O'Brien.
The Panthers are now 20-10 overall, while Missouri State falls to 25-6. UNI's first match in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament will be Friday, Nov. 23 at 7:30 pm. The Panthers will face the winner of a first round match between #3 seed Creighton and #6 seed Southern Illinois, played at 12:30 pm earlier in the day.
