University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Creighton
Volleyball Advances to MVC Championship
11/24/2007 7:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 23, 2007
Springfield, Mo. - Laura Rowen had 16 kills and 13 digs to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Creighton in the semifinals of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference tournament, held at Hammons Student Center. Game scores were 30-18, 30-17, 22-30 and 30-19.
With the win, the second-seeded Panthers (21-10) advance to tomorrow's championship match against fifth-seeded Illinois State (21-10). The Redbirds won twice on Friday, defeating fourth-seeded and host Missouri State, 3-0, in the morning's first round, and then topping top-seeded Wichita State, 3-2, in the other semifinal Friday evening.
In addition to Rowen, Shannon Aschoff had 15 kills and a career-high 12 blocks for the Panthers, while Amy Sampson pitched in with 12 kills. Ashten Stelken had nine kills and a career-best 13 blocks, and Danielle Brazda had six block assists, which moved her into a tie for the UNI and Missouri Valley Conference career record with former Panther All-American Molly O'Brien (2000-03). Both players now have 653 career block assists.
The Panthers never trailed in game one, jumping to a 5-0 lead out of the chute. The Panthers had two of their six game one blocks during that early stretch, along with getting a pair of kills from Rowen. The Bluejays used a 5-1 run to pull within 14-13, but after a UNI timeout, the Panthers went on an 11-3 run to open a 25-16 lead and cruise to the 30-18 win. UNI hit .410 (18-2-39) in the first game to just .098 (15-10-51) by Creighton. Rowen had six kills while Aschoff and Sampson each had four.
UNI controlled game two, holding leads to 8-1, 15-3 and 18-5 en route to a 30-17 win. The Panthers hit an impressive .548 (18-1-31) in game two, led by Rowen who had six kills. Sampson, Aschoff and Stelken each added three kills for the Panthers as they opened a 2-0 lead.
Creighton got on the board with a 30-22 win in game three. UNI held a 6-4 advantage early, before the Bluejays scored six straight to go in front 10-6. The Panthers used back-to-back blocks to pull within 14-11, but that was as close as they would get, as CU pulled within two games to one. Creighton hit .154 (18-10-52) in the game to .091 (10-6-44) for UNI.
The Bluejays continued their momentum early in game four, getting a pair of service aces from Allie Oelke to open a 5-1 lead. Creighton held a 9-4 edge when UNI head coach Kristin Belzung kill, and that started an 11-1 run to effectively put the game away. Aschoff had three more kills during that decisive stretch, as UNI eventually posted a 30-19 win and earned the match victory, three games to one.
UNI hit .296 on the evening to .096 for Creighton. The Panthers had more kills (63-55) and digs (57-49) than the Bluejays, and held a commanding lead in blocks (19-2).
Tomorrow's championship match will be televised live at 4:00 pm on Fox College Sports, and on a tape-delayed basis on Comcast SportsNet at 8:30 pm and FSN Midwest at 9:00 pm. The match can also be heard live on the radio in the Cedar Falls area on KWLO 1330 AM.
