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University of Northern Iowa
Wichita State
UNI Falls to Wichita State in Semifinals of MVC Tournament
11/23/2012 1:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.- The University of Northern Iowa volleyball team fell to the Wichita State Shockers 3-1 in the semifinals of the MVC Tournament Friday night in Springfield, Missouri.
Macy Ubben led the Panthers with 18 kills and Krista DeGeest followed with 16 kills and an impressive .448 hitting percentage. Molly Turk recorded 55 assists for UNI and Candice Burke notched 21 digs and Amy Braun followed with 17.
Wichita State jumped out to an early 5-3 lead in the first set. Back-to-back kills from Macy Ubben and Amy Braun helped the Panthers to tie the set up at 5-5. An attack error by the Shockers gave UNI the 6-5 lead, but Wichita State answered with a kill in the next play to make it 6-6. A kill by Krista DeGeest and an attack error by Wichita State gave the Panthers the 8-6 lead. UNI held a slim lead until the Shockers fought back to tie the set up at 11-11. Wichita State then went on a 7-2 run to take the lead at 18-13. UNI brought the score to within three at 21-18, but they could not catch the Shockers, who won the set 25-19.
UNI turned the tables in the second set and took the early 5-0 lead. From there the Panthers continued this pace and went on a 7-4 run to increase their lead to 12-4. Wichita State started to chip away at the Panthers' lead until the score was within one at 17-16. A kill by Braun and an attack error by the Shockers brought the UNI's lead to 19-16. Wichita State brought the score back to within one again at 21-20. A kill by Ubben in the next play gave the Panthers the 22-20 lead and an attack error by the Shockers increased it to 23-20. UNI was able to hold off Wichita State and win the set 25-22.
With the score tied at 6-6 in the third set, Wichita State went on a 3-0 run to take the lead at 9-6. Multiple kills from Ubben helped the Panthers to battle back and tie the set up at 10-10. The Shockers then went on a 5-0 run to regain the lead at 15-10. UNI brought the set back to within three at 18-15, but that was the closest they got to Wichita State. The Shockers won the set 25-19 and took the 2-1 match lead.
The fourth set went back and forth during the beginning. The score was tied at 8-8 when a kill by Ubben and an attack error by Wichita State gave the Panthers the 10-8 lead. The Shockers came back to tie the set up at 11-11 and that sparked a 6-2 run for the Shockers to give them the 17-14 lead at a UNI timeout. The Panthers tried to close in, but it was not quite enough. Wichita State won the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.
The Panthers will wait until Sunday to see if they get a bid to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA selection show will air at 3:00 CST on Sunday on ESPN U.
