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University of Northern Iowa
Northern Illinois
Sampson Powers UNI to Sweep of Northern Illinois
9/5/2008 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 5, 2008
Cedar Falls, Iowa - Senior outside hitter Amy Sampson had a season-high 18 kills to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of Northern Illinois tonight at the UNI Invitational. Set scores were 25-19, 28-26 and 25-10.
Sampson hit an impressive .500 (18-2-32) for the match, finishing just two kills shy of tying her career-best. She was joined in double-digit kills by senior middle blocker Ashten Stelken who had 12 kills and a .600 hitting percentage (12-0-20), and junior outside hitter Shannon Aschoff with 10 kills. Libero Ellie Blankenship led the way defensively with 14 digs, while Chelsea Saunders chipped in with a career-high 13.
UNI go two early kills from Aschoff to open an 8-2 lead to start the match, forcing a Northern Illinois timeout. The Panthers held a 13-7 lead before the Huskies went on a 6-1 run to pull within 14-13. The Huskies were never able to take the lead, however, and UNI used a late run to turn an 18-17 lead into a 25-19 win. Sampson was the catalyst down the stretch, as she had four of her seven first set kills late to help seal the victory.
The Panthers held a slight lead throughout much of game two, before Northern Illinois reeled off four straight points to take a 20-18 advantage, forcing UNI to take its first timeout. UNI pulled even at 21-all, and the score was again tied at 23 when NIU recorded a service ace to go in front 24-23. That was the first of three set points that the Huskies would have, also having chances to win at 25-24 and 26-25. But each time the Panthers responded to pull even, and after UNI took a 27-26 lead on a Beth Discher kill, Northern Illinois hit the ball into the net to give the Panthers the 28-26 win and a two sets to none lead. Sampson had seven kills for the second straight set, while NIU's Meagan Schoenrock led all players with 10 kills in set two.
UNI dominated the third set en route to the 3-0 sweep. The Panthers opened leads of 5-2, 10-3 and 15-5 and never looked back, holding a double-digit lead for the entire second half of the game. UNI hit an impressive .516 (17-1-31) in set three, while holding Northern Illinois to .067 hitting (6-4-30).
For the match, UNI hit .364 (49-10-107), marking the fourth straight match to start the season that the Panthers have hit better than .350 as a team. The Panthers held Northern Illinois to .148 hitting (32-16-108), which is also the fourth straight opponent to hit less than .200.
With the win, UNI improves to 4-0 on the season, while Northern Illinois falls to 2-3. The UNI Invitational continues tomorrow with four matches at the McLeod Center. The Panthers will play Marquette at 12:30 pm, and Clemson at 7:30 pm.
