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University of Northern Iowa
Illinois State
UNI Sweeps Illinois State
9/26/2008 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 26, 2008
Normal, Ill. - Amy Sampson had 10 kills and Ellie Blankenship had a match-high 21 digs to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of Illinois State tonight at Redbird Arena. Set scores were 25-21, 25-18, 25-22.
UNI has won six matches in a row and improves to 13-1 overall, 3-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Illinois State falls to 8-6 overall and 2-1 in the Valley.
Shannon Aschoff added nine kills and 12 digs for the Panthers, Ashten Stelken had eight kills and five blocks, and Michelle Burow had seven kills and three blocks in UNI's balanced offensive attack. ISU's Peggy Riesen led all players with 11 kills.
UNI jumped out to a 9-3 lead to start the first set, forcing Illinois State to take timeout. The Redbirds went on an 8-3 run to pull within 12-11, but Aschoff had two kills to help the Panthers push its advantage to 15-11. ISU responded with four straight points to pull even at 15, with UNI stopping the run with a timeout. The score was still tied at 17-all when the Panthers got two kills from Stelken and one from setter Bre Payton during a 4-0 run of their own, pulling ahead 21-17. That was all the space UNI would need as it won the first set, 25-21.
The second set was tied at 4-all, when UNI scored seven of the next nine points to pull ahead, 11-6. ISU responded with a 5-1 run to get within 12-11, but UNI never gave up the lead. The Redbirds were within one as late as 19-18, but UNI ended the set by scoring the last six points to win, 25-18.
UNI never trailed in the third set. The Panthers opened a 5-1 lead, and after ISU pulled within 10-8, the Panthers pushed back with a 10-4 run to move out to a 20-14 advantage. ISU made a big run, scoring six of the next seven points to get within 21-20, but Sampson, Burow and Beth Discher had kills to keep the Redbirds at bay, and Stelken had a kill to clinch the 25-22 win and the match victory.
UNI travels to Terre Haute, Ind., tomorrow night to face Indiana State. First serve is set for 6:00 pm central time.
