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University of Northern Iowa
Iowa State
Panthers Top Iowa State, Improve to 7-0
9/10/2008 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 10, 2008
Ames, Iowa - Ashten Stelken and Shannon Aschoff each had double-doubles to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Iowa State tonight at Hilton Coliseum. The 22-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-19 victory improved UNI to 7-0 on the season, while Iowa State fell to 5-3.
Stelken had 13 kills and a season-high 10 blocks, while Aschoff had 11 kills, 15 digs and eight blocks. Amy Sampson led the Panthers with 17 kills, while Michelle Burow chipped in with nine kills. Libero Ellie Blankenship led the way defensively with 18 digs. ISU's Victoria Henson led all players with 27 kills.
UNI hit .323 as a team (53-10-133), while Iowa State hit .211 (68-34-161). The Panthers also won the battle of blocking, posting a season-best 16 team blocks, to just four for the Cyclones.
Iowa State was on fire offensively early, with seven kills in its first 10 swings to open a 9-5 lead to start the match. But UNI responded on the serve of Jessa Benson, rattling off five straight points to take a 10-9 lead and force a Cyclone timeout. UNI kept the pressure on, eventually scoring nine straight points to go in front 14-9.
After the teams traded points, Iowa State went on a 4-0 run, including three consecutive kills from Victoria Henson, to pull within 15-14. The Panthers led 19-17, before the Cyclones scored six straight to go in front 23-19 and eventually post a 25-22 win. Sampson had five kills and Burow four in the first set for UNI.
The Cyclones scored the first three points of set two, before UNI made its defensive presence felt at the net. UNI scored five straight points - three on blocks - to open a 5-3 lead. After Iowa State pulled within 7-6, the Panthers had two more blocks, including a solo from Aschoff, to extend its lead to 10-6.
Iowa State scored four of the next six points to go in front 14-12, but the Panthers then tallied six straight - including a service ace from Benson - to open an 18-14 advantage. That was all the room UNI would need, as ISU never got closer than three points the rest of the way in the 25-21 second set victory. UNI hit .257 in set two, while holding ISU to .108 hitting.
UNI opened an 8-5 lead to start the third set, as Sampson and Burow had kills and the Panthers teamed up on a block. Iowa State scored five of the next six points to go in front for the first time, 10-9. After that, in a back-and-forth affair, there were 11 ties and neither team led by more than one point until the Panthers broke a 20-all tie with three straight blocks. Aschoff and Stelken teamed up each time to push UNI in front 23-20. After ISU broke the string to make the score 23-21, Stelken had a kill and she and Benson combined for a block on set point.
Iowa State held a 9-7 lead in set four, before the Panthers went on a 4-0 run. An ISU service error, two Cyclone hitting errors, and a Sampson kill gave UNI an 11-9 lead. The Cyclones pulled even at 12, but the Panthers then went on a 6-2 run culminated by a block from Stelken and Benson to move in front 18-14. The Cyclones didn't get closer than three points the rest of the way, as UNI closed out the match with a 25-19 victory. The Panthers had 12 kills and did not record a hitting error in the fourth set.
UNI is next in action this Friday night, when it faces 19th-ranked Kansas State in the first match of the Varney's KSU Invitational in Manhattan, Kan.
