University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Western Michigan
UNI Defeats Western Michigan, 3-0
8/24/2007 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 24, 2007
Cedar Falls, Iowa - Junior Ashten Stelken (Manchester, Iowa) had 13 kills and sophomore Shannon Aschoff (Ankeny, Iowa) added 12 to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-0 win over Western Michigan tonight in the UNI Invitational. Game scores were 30-25, 30-15 and 30-27. A crowd of 1,861 at the McLeod Center saw the Panthers improve to 1-0 on the season, while Western Michigan fell to 0-1. The win was also the 800th victory in the history of the UNI volleyball program dating back to 1975.
On the evening, Aschoff hit .444 with no hitting errors (12-0-27), while Stelken hit .346 (13-4-26). As a team, UNI hit .291 (48-11-127) while holding Western Michigan to .097 hitting (42-28-145). The Panthers also racked up 11 total team blocks, led by Stelken and senior Danielle Brazda (Omaha, Neb.) with five apiece. Two of Brazda's blocks were solos.
UNI jumped out to an 8-3 lead in game one, thanks in part to three early kills from Aschoff. UNI held a 10-6 advantage before Western Michigan went on an 8-1 run to take a 14-11 lead, forcing a Panthers timeout. UNI responded with a 6-1 run of its own, taking the lead for good, 16-15. WMU was within two points, 25-23, when the Panthers scored three straight to open a 28-23 edge and eventually take the first game, 30-25. Aschoff and Brazda each had four kills in the first game for the Panthers, who hit .302 (15-2-43) in game one
UNI never trailed in the second game. The Panthers posted six blocks in the game, including solos from Brazda and Amy Sampson, as they rolled to the 30-15 win. Holding a 13-9 lead, UNI put the game away by scoring 17 of the last 22 points. UNI hit .387 (15-3-31) in game two, while WMU hit just .029 (9-8-35).
The third game was tight throughout, as neither team held more than a four point lead at any point. With the score tied at 21-all, UNI scored five of the next six points to take a 26-22 advantage, forcing Western Michigan to spend both of its timeouts during that span. The Broncos pulled back within 27-25, but UNI was able to hold WMU at bay, eventually winning the game, 30-27, on an Amy Sampson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) kill.
Earlier today in the first match of the UNI Invitational, Kentucky defeated Wright State 3-0. Game scores in that match were 30-18, 30-25, 30-23. The tournament continues tomorrow with four matches at the McLeod Center. UNI will face Wright State at 12:30 pm and Kentucky at 7:30 pm.
