UNI Rallies in Five to Hold Off Evansville

Saturday, September 26

Cedar Falls, Iowa

7 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

8-7, 2-0MVC

Evansville

6-10, 0-2MVC

Evansville

UNI

Photo by: Mike Dunlop

UNI Rallies in Five to Hold Off Evansville

9/26/2015 9:34:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - The University of Northern Iowa women's volleyball team stayed perfect in Missouri Valley Conference play with a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Evansville Purple Aces on Saturday in the McLeod Center. UNI won by set scores of 25-10, 23-25, 23-25, 25-22 and 15-9.

UNI (8-7 overall, 2-0 MVC) earned the five-set win with the help of a couple of career-highs from Kayla Haneline (21 kills) and Piper Thomas (16 kills). Bri Weber added a double-double with 16 kills and 15 digs. Amie Held posted 27 digs and Heather Hook secured 57 assists in the Panther victory.

Evansville (6-10 overall, 0-2 MVC) pushed UNI to five sets for the only the second time in the all-time series between the two schools. UNI and Evansville previously played a five-setter in Evansville, Ind., on Sept. 13, 1997, when the Panthers scored the victory. UNI improved to 44-1 all-time vs. Evansville.

UNI looked to have an easy go of it from the start as the Panthers cruised to a 25-10 opening-set victory. It was the largest opening set win since UNI scored another 25-10 victory over Evansville on Oct. 11, 2013. UNI posted an 81 percent sideout effort in the first set. UNI took advantage of its scoring opportunities by hitting .429 with 15 kills and three errors on 28 attacks.

However, the Purple Aces failed to fold and came up with a pair of 25-23 wins in sets two and three. The second set featured 16 ties and six lead changes. In the third set, Evansville and UNI were tied at 17-17, but the Purple Aces scored to go up 19-17 and never relinquished the lead.

UNI had to rally from a set down and put together a 25-22 win in the fourth set. UNI limited Evansville to a .095 hitting percentage in the fourth.

UNI finished strong in the fifth set by taking an early 5-2 lead. UE clawed back to within 6-5, but a service error by Kim Deprez and a kill from Haneline pushed the lead back to 8-5. UNI then used a 5-0 run to take a commanding 13-6 advantage. UNI would score its final two points on service errors by Mildrelis Rodriguez and Olivia Goldstein.

UE's Deprez notched 40 digs in the contest, which ranks tied for the eighth-best single-match total in MVC history.

UNI will travel to Peoria, Ill., to take on the Bradley Braves on Tuesday at 5 p.m.