University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Indiana State
Panthers Sweep Indiana State
10/24/2008 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 24, 2008
Cedar Falls, Iowa - Senior middle blocker Ashten Stelken had a season-high 16 kills to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of Indiana State at the McLeod Center. Set scores were 25-21, 25-19, 25-13.
The win snapped a two-match losing streak for UNI and improved the Panthers record to 18-4 overall, 8-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Indiana State fell to 8-15 overall, 2-8 in The Valley. . Stelken led UNI's defensive effort at the net as well, as she had a team-high six block assists. Shannon Aschoff, Amy Sampson joined Stelken in double-digit kills with 10, while Ellie Blankenship had a match-high 25 digs.
Indiana State took a 6-2 lead to start the match, as Kristin Hunt had four of her seven kills in the opening eight points. Trailing 8-4, UNI scored five straight to take a 9-8 lead, with Aschoff and Discher each having a pair of kills. Neither team held more than a two-point lead the rest of the way, until the Panthers made a decisive late push. Trailing 21-20, UNI scored the last five points of the set, including getting a pair of service aces from Chelsea Saunders, to earn the 25-21 win.
UNI used a 5-0 run to take a 13-9 lead in the second set. Following an Indiana State timeout, the Sycamores scored four straight of their own to pull even at 13, but the Panthers answered right back with a 6-1 run to take control, 19-14. ISU was able to get as close as 21-18, but Sampson had two kills down the stretch as the Panthers went up two sets to none with a 25-19 victory.
Set three was all Panthers. UNI jumped to leads of 5-0, 9-1 and 13-5 en route to a 25-13 win and the match sweep. The Sycamores never got closer than eight points after the mid-point of the set. UNI hit .586 in the third set (18-1-29), while ISU hit just .087 (6-4-23).
On the night, the Panthers won nearly every statistical battle with the Sycamores, getting more kills (48-26), blocks (10-6), service aces (9-4) and having a higher hitting percentage (.284-.126). Indiana State did out-dig UNI, 45-43.
UNI hosts Illinois State Saturday night at the McLeod Center in `Dig Pink' night. Dig Pink is a national program to raise funds for breast cancer research. College and high school volleyball programs from around the nation are using matches during the month of October (breast cancer awareness month) to promote this important cause. UNI will be wearing special pink jerseys against ISU, and first serve is 7 pm.
