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University of Northern Iowa
Wichita State
UNI Outlasts Wichita State, 3-2
10/16/2009 8:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 16, 2009
The University of Northern Iowa volleyball team escaped with a 3-2 win over Wichita State Friday night in front of 2,423 fans in the McLeod Center to maintain a perfect 8-0 record in Missouri Valley Conference action. The Panthers won by scores of 33-31, 25-20, 18-25, 22-25 and 18-16 to win their 15th straight match and improve to 17-2 on the season.
Shannon Aschoff tallied 18. Amy Braun and Krista DeGeest also finished with career marks for kills, totaling 13 and 12, respectively. Bre Payton notched a career-high 63 assists, and Ellie Blankenship totaled 36 digs in the match.
Emily Stockman led the Shockers (14-4, 5-3 MVC) with 25 kills, and Mary Elizabeth Hooper notched 61 assists.
The Panthers held a slight edge in attack percentage, hitting .221 to WSU's .201. The Shockers outblocked UNI, 13-11.
The Panthers outlasted the Shockers in an extended first set that featured 19 ties. Braun tallied six kills in that set to pace the Panthers to a 33-31 victory.
UNI used a 6-0 run to turn an 11-7 advantage into a 17-7 lead in the second set. WSU chipped away at the Panther lead, however, pulling within three points, 23-20. DeGeest put together back-to-back kills to secure the 25-20 win for UNI.
In the third set, Wichita State was able to extend an 11-10 lead to a 23-15 advantage, and the Shockers held on for the 25-18 victory.
WSU jumped out to an early 9-3 lead in the fourth set. UNI gradually came back, and pulled within a point three separate times before an Aschoff kill tied the set at 17-17. The teams traded points, and then WSU scored two straight to hold a 20-18 edge. A kill from Aschoff, a block by DeGeest and Beth Discher and a kill from DeGeest gave UNI its first lead of the set, 21-20. WSU tied the set at 21 each, and then took a 22-21 lead on a kill by Stephanie Tokarz. The Panthers knotted it up again with a kill from Aschoff, who finished with seven kills in the set. WSU managed to score the set's final three points, however, to take the set 25-22 and force the fifth frame.
Trailing 7-4 in the fifth set, UNI used a kill from Aschoff, and a pair of kills from Burow to take an 8-7 lead. WSU knotted the set at 8-8, and the teams traded two-point runs to give UNI a 12-10 edge. Aschoff answered a kill from Stockman to keep the UNI lead at two, 13-11. A UNI attack error cut the Panther lead in half, but a kill from Discher brought set and match point for the Panthers, 14-12.
WSU was able to fight of set point twice, and its third consecutive point brought up set point in its favor, 15-14. A kill by Burow kept the Panthers alive and tied the score, 15-15. Kim Wadsworth scored for the Shockers to bring up set point again, but Braun connected for a kill that tied the set, 16-16. An attack error by WSU gave the Panthers set point, and Burow was able to bury a kill in the back corner for the 18-16 Panther win.
The Panthers return to action on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. when they host Missouri State. The Bears are also 8-0 in Valley play to share first place in the league standing with UNI.
