University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Creighton
Panther Volleyball Tops Creighton 3-1 To Clinch Share of MVC Title
11/11/2011 1:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
CEDAR FAlls, Iowa - The No. 12 University of Northern Iowa volleyball team clinched at least a share of the Missouri Valley Conference title with its 3-1 win over the Creighton Bluejays Friday night. UNI (27-1, 15-0 MVC) won by scores of 25-23, 20-25, 25-20, 25-14. This is the 18th straight win for the Panthers and their 51st consecutive Valley victory.
Shelby Kintzel led the team with 16 kills, and Bre Payton led with 47 assists and was tied with Jenny Willms with 16 digs. Michelle Burow hit .353 and tallied 14 kills and three blocks. Megan Lehman led the Panthers with four blocks and also had eight kills.
Heather Thorson and Megan Bober lead Creighton (16-12, 11-5) with 12 kills.
In the first set, UNI was down by five points, 10-5, early on, but battled back to tie it at 16-16 thanks to a kill by Megan Lehman. The Panthers were up by 20-17, but Creighton came back to tie it at 23-23. Back-to-back kills from Amy Braun and Shelby Kintzel gave UNI a 25-23 win in the set.
Tied at 9-9 in the second set, Creighton went on a 9-3 run to lead UNI 18-12. Two kills by Michelle Burow and four kills by Krista DeGeest helped bring the Panthers back to 20-23, but they could not pull through and Creighton won the second set 25-20.
The Panthers led by ten at one point in the third set, 16-6. UNI maintained at least a four point lead throughout the whole set. The Panthers had 18 kills and Bre Payton hit .667 in the set. A kill from Kintzel gave UNI the 25-20 win in the third set.
Set four featured four early ties. UNI scored three straight points courtesy of back-to-back kills from Braun and a kill by Burow to take a 9-6 lead. UNI lead for the rest of the set, extending their lead to ten points, 22-12. A service error by the Bluejays gave the Panthers the 25-14 win in the set and a 3-1 win in the match.
UNI hit .217 in the match, while Creighton hit .192. Creighton tallied 10.5 team blocks, and UNI finished with 8.0
The Panthers will return to the court Saturday when they host Drake at 4 p.m. for their final regular season home match. =
