CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The University of Northern Iowa volleyball squad advanced to its 22nd Missouri Valley Conference Tournament final with a 3-1 win over No. 3-seeded Wichita State on Friday at the McLeod Center.
UNI (21-10 overall) won by set scores of 21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-18. Wichita State falls to 20-10 on the year following the setback.
Wichita State opened the match with a 25-21 victory in the first set. UNI had a 10-8 lead but saw it evaporate as Wichita State scored seven consecutive points to take a 15-10 lead. UNI would claw to within two points at 20-18, 21-19 and 22-20 but could not tie the set. The Shockers benefitted from four service aces in the opening stanza, including three from Ashlyn Driskill.
The Panthers rallied from a four-point deficit to take the second set, 25-23. Wichita State took its first lead in the second set at 8-7 following a 6-2 run. Wichita State pushed the lead to four at 18-14. UNI then began its rally and tied the set at 22-22 following a kill by Kayla Haneline. Haneline added another kill on the next point to give UNI a 23-22 lead. Haneline would also score the set-winner to give the Panthers the victory, 25-23.
UNI took control of the third set from the beginning as the Panthers opened up an 11-2 lead. The Shockers but the lead to six, but the Panthers re-upped the margin to nine at 17-8. UNI's 19-10 lead was cut to four when the Shockers ran off five in a row. UNI's Leigh Pudwill stopped the run with a kill and the Panthers a 20-15 lead. WSU would get as close as 24-23, but UNI's Autumn Alitz and Lindsey Schulz teamed up for a block to give UNI a 25-23 set win.
The Panthers had a 12-9 lead in the fourth set, but the Shockers knotted it at 12-12. Following a 15-15 deadlock, UNI scored four in a row to take a 19-15 lead. UNI closed the match on a 5-1 run for the 25-18 victory.
UNI will take on top-seeded Illinois State in the MVC Tournament final on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the McLeod Center.
NOTES: UNI had not won an MVC Tournament match since defeating Wichita State to win the 2011 MVC tourney title in Cedar Falls … UNI is now 41-17 all-time in the MVC Tournament … UNI has won 14 of the last 16 matchups vs. Wichita State, including winning all three matches this season … UNI was led by Kayla Haneline (16 kills, .438 hitting percentage), Leigh Pudwill (15 kills, eight blocks) and Eryca Hingtgen (11 kills, 13 digs) … Kinsey Caldwell recorded her 16th double-double of the year with 45 assists and 15 digs … Wichita State was led by MaryAshton Floyd's 17 kills … WSU setter Emily Heibert posted a double-double with 39 assists and 11 digs.
Quotes from UNI Head Coach Bobbi Petersen
Talk about the adjustments between games one and two.
"Game plan wise, we didn't do a lot of adjusting. We couldn't do what we needed to do game plan wise because we weren't serving tough enough. We were out of system a lot. We had a certain way we were defending and we didn't always hit that. So I don't think it was a matter of adjusting our game plan, it was a matter of being able to execute our game plan. I thought our kids did a really good job. In system, they (Wichita State) have a lot of people capable of putting the ball away. Number five (MaryAshton Floyd) runs that pipe out of the back row that's very effective so you are almost defending four people at that point. I thought our kids did a nice job at getting a lot of touches and eventually transitioned out of that."
"She was so strong tonight. Her and Kinsey (Caldwell) definitely had a feel going and we got to the point where we wanted Kinsey setting Kayla even if we knew they were committing on her. She was still very effective. She was hitting over people and she did a nice job of hitting around a double block. Normally when we see the commits we want to go the other attacker but I just thought they were having a little bit of trouble with Kayla so we just kept feeding her."
Talk about tomorrow's matchup against Illinois State.
"We're going to have to play really well. Obviously they're a great team. Defensively, we're going to have to execute as well, if not better, than we did tonight in terms of being able to serve a little bit better to get them out of their system. In system they are very tough. They have a very good setter that leads the way offensively for them, doing a lot of good things distributing the ball and knowing who to set. They serve tough so the passing part of our game needs to be there as well."
Player Interviews
Talk about the win and the chance to play for the championship tomorrow.
Kayla Haneline- "It's extremely exciting. The energy on the court was absolutely amazing. We were all pumped up and I think everyone was ready for that win."
Talk about the rally in the second set down 21 to 19.
Leigh Pudwill- "I think our team did very well at taking one point at a time and not getting frustrated with anything we were doing. We got after it right away and even when we were down we just fought that much harder to get back."
Kayla Haneline- "She (Kinsey) is very good at getting the ball set to where it needs to be, she sees where the blockers are and our back row does an amazing job of getting the ball to her."
Talk about being able to win the match after dropping the first set.
Leigh Pudwill- "Wichita State is a very good and scrappy team. Just staying patient and knowing there were doing to be really long rallies and tough points and staying after it one point at a time."
Quotes from Wichita State head coach Chris Lamb
Q: The momentum seemed to shift in the second set into the third set, were you concerned after that second set?
A: I wasn't so disappointed after the second set, we came in with some momentum. We have struggled coming out of the locker room in game 3 all season long, if you go back and look at the game 3's, we've been behind early and that just frustrates me. We have to look at the fact that we do give a lot of information at halftime, and talk about making adjustments when we have that time. Game 3 has been a struggle for this team, and tonight was no different. Tonight we did battle back and with some momentum and did climb back in it which made me feel good. Hats off to UNI, they were down here and they found scoring. If you would have told me that we would hold them under .200 before the game, I would have thought we had a great a chance of winning. Proud of my team this year, we were super young and had a lot of unexpected wins early on. We were able to get better as the season went along and I'm proud of that. Tough to call it a season, but we played really good volleyball and the future is very bright for Shocker volleyball.
Q: Unless you get an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, your season is over. Talk about what you expect next season. The future seems very bright for next year.
A: Well, I have to get Katie Dudzinski on the floor. That girl has one of the best arms on our team and when you start training her in the middle, where you see we have a void on our team in the 5-1, where we struggled scoring in the second half of the season. There will be a great opportunity to slide into the middle, it just bugs me that we haven't found a spot on the floor for her yet because she can score. She just needs to put some time and get comfortable. We have big plans for this freshman group, and have more red-shirt freshman that will be contributers, and we'll turn this thing up and put a great product on the floor for Shocker fans next year. \
Q: What did UNI do that was successful against you guys?
A: They played really good defense, and we struggled on the antennas, which is what we've been good at during the second half of the season, we have been hit and miss in the middle all year, but usually been good on the antennas. UNI did a good job touching and converting from the antennas, which is Northern Iowa volleyball.
Q: Talk a little about MaryAshton, double digits kills in 10 of 12 games, what has she meant to the team?
A: I'm glad you brought that up, she's been in the program for three years now and were never able to find a role for her. We found ourselves in a 6-2 early in the season, she was going to go to the right side and were gonna put her on the right side. We had an injury, kept her on the right side and really found a niche in that spot. I am super excited and proud of her. She's played well and had some issues off the court, with health and her family, and to see her keep her composure and keep getting better is a really cool thing to see that I'll always remember.
Q: With this team being so young, what do you expect from the future?
A: MVC is always going to be tough, and getting older doesn't always mean your getting better but it's usually a good sign and starting a lot of freshman, it will be nice to be able to settle in and work with these young girls all spring to keep improving and put out a better product on the floor next season.
