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University of Northern Iowa
Missouri State
Missouri State Edges UNI, 3-2
9/14/2007 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 14, 2007
Springfield, Mo. - Senior Laura Rowen (Hansell, Iowa) had a season-high 18 kills, but it was not enough as Missouri State edged the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team, 3-2, Friday night at Hammons Student Center. Game scores in favor of the Bears were 30-21, 25-30, 32-30, 19-30 and 18-16.
A total of four Panther players reached double figures in kills. In addition to Rowen, Ashten Stelken (Manchester, Iowa) had 14, Shannon Aschoff (Ankeny, Iowa) had 12 and Amy Sampson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) added 12. Danielle Brazda (Omaha, Neb.) had nine kills and a match-high nine blocks, and freshman libero Ellie Blankenship (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) had 20 digs.
Missouri State took the first game, opening leads of 7-1, 12-3 and 17-8 en route to the 30-21 victory. UNI bounced back with a 30-24 win in the second game, as Stelken and Rowen combined for nine kills. The Panthers hit .205 in the second game, and held the Bears to .000 hitting (10-10-41).
In the third game, the Panthers were on the verge of going up two games to one, as they held advantages of 28-25 and 29-27. But Missouri State fought back, pulling even at 29-all on a service ace by Katelyn Panzau, and eventually claimed a 32-30 win. UNI dominated game four, opening a 17-5 lead and cruising to a 30-19 victory to pull even at two games apiece, and forcing a decisive game five.
In the fifth game, Missouri State held the early 4-3 lead, before UNI scored three straight to pull ahead 6-4. After a Missouri State timeout, the Bears scored five of the next six points to regain the lead, 9-7. UNI rallied to take an 11-10 edge, before MSU went on a 4-1 run to open a 14-12 advantage. UNI then fought off two match points, on a Rowen kill and a Bears error. After MSU took a 15-14 lead, UNI scored two straight to go up 16-15, courtesy of a Stelken kill and a block from Stelken and Sampson. But Missouri State fought off match point, and scored three points in a row, winning the match 18-16 on the 20th kill of the night from Jamie Adams.
With the victory, Missouri State improves to 10-2 on the season, 1-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while UNI falls to 5-6, 0-1 in Valley play. The Panthers travel to face Wichita State tomorrow night (Sept. 15) with first serve set for 7:00 pm.
