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University of Northern Iowa
Missouri State
No. 14 UNI Sweeps Missouri State For Seventh Straight Win
10/1/2011 1:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The No. 14 University of Northern Iowa volleyball team earned a 3-0 win over Missouri State in Missouri Valley Conference action Saturday night in the McLeod Center, improving to 16-1 overall and remaining perfect at 6-0 in MVC action. UNI picked up the win by scores of 25-21, 25-20 and 25-17. The victory is UNI's seventh straight overall and the Panthers' 42nd straight league win.
Amy Braun led UNI with 11 kills, and Shelby Kintzel added nine. Megan Lehman and Krista DeGeest each finished with seven. DeGeest put down seven blocks, and Bre Payton led UNI with 36 assists. Candice Burke led UNI with 15 digs, and Braun collected 11.
Missouri State (11-6, 4-1 MVC) was led by Karen Rivatto's 11 kills.
With the first set tied 11-11, UNI went on an 8-2 run to build a 19-13 advantage. The Panthers held on to at least a four-point lead until MSU scored to pull within three, 21-18. A pair of MSU attack errors gave UNI a 23-18 advantage, but the Bears answered with a pair of points to keep the UNI lead at three, 23-20. Lehman put down a kill to bring up set point, 24-20, but MSU used a kill from Kaitlin Jaeger to hold off UNI. Kintzel put down her fourth kill of the set to end it in a 25-21 victory for the Panthers.
UNI held an 11-10 lead in the second set when the Panthers strung together five straight points to extend their lead to 16-10. MSU chipped away, eventually pulling within two, 18-16. A kill from Payton and an MSU attack error doubled the UNI advantage, 20-16. MSU scored on a service error by UNI, but Kintzel and DeGeest notched back-to-back kills to extend UNI's lead back to five, 22-17. The Panthers held at least a three-point edge the rest of the way to the 25-20 victory. UNI hit .412 in the second set, committing just four errors in the frame.
The Panthers held MSU to -.071 hitting and never trailed in the third set. With the score tied 4-4, UNI used a kill from Braun, an pair of MSU errors and a block by Payton and Michelle Burow to build a four-point lead, 8-4. MSU scored the next two points to pull within two twice, 8-6 and 9-7, but UNI scored the next three points to extend its lead to 12-7. The Panthers maintained at least a three-point lead, and UNI would lead by as many as eight points on the way to the 25-17 win.
The Panthers hit .314 in the match while holding Missouri State to .076 hitting. UNI recorded 13.0 team blocks, compared to 4.0 for MSU.
UNI returns to action on Friday when it hosts Bradley at 7 p.m. in the McLeod Center.
