Kansas State Prevails in Five-Setter With UNI

Saturday, September 16

Omaha, Nebraska

5:30 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

10-4

Kansas State

7-6

Kansas State

UNI

Kansas State Prevails in Five-Setter With UNI

9/16/2017 7:59:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

OMAHA, Nebraska - The University of Northern Iowa volleyball team was pushed to a five-set match against Kansas State University in its finale of the Omaha Challenge. Kansas State prevailed in the five-setter by scores of 25-22, 24-26, 29-27, 23-25, 16-5.

UNI (10-4 overall) got a career-high tying 22 kills from junior Bri Weber in the two and half hour match vs. the Wildcats. Weber added 17 digs for her 41st career double-double.

"When you play three physical teams in a 24-hour period you hope there's enough left in the tank," UNI assistant coach Kalani Mahi said. "Unfortunately, you get in the fifth set and they get ahead of us and we couldn't side out."

The Panthers left five set points slip away in the third set as the Wildcats rallied for a 29-27 victory at the pivotal points in the match. UNI held a 24-20 lead but could not close out Kansas State. The Wildcats knotted it up at 24-24, only to see the Panthers earn another set point. But the Wildcats refused to give in and came out on top, 29-27.

UNI trailed 13-8 in the fourth set before embarking on a 7-0 run to take a 15-13 advantage. The fourth set would be tied at 16-16, 17-17, 21-21, 22-22 and 23-23. UNI's Piper Thomas and Heather Hook provided kills to give UNI the 25-23 fourth-set victory.

Kansas State did not trail in the fifth set after scoring the first two points. UNI did knot it up at 3-3, only to have the Wildcats score the next three points and force a Panther timeout. Kansas State finished the match on a 9-2 run to take the set, 15-6.

Heather Hook secured 58 assists and 18 digs for her 30th career double-double. Hook added four kills and a block. Piper Thomas posted 19 kills with five blocks. Karlie Taylor registered her eighth double-double on the year with 18 kills and a team-high 19 digs.

UNI will begin Missouri Valley Conference play next weekend with matches at Valparaiso (Fri., 7 p.m.) and at Loyola (Sat., 7 p.m.).

FINAL TOURNAMENT RECORDS
Nebraska – 2-1
UNI – 2-1
Kansas State – 2-1
Omaha – 0-3

Nebraska wins the tiebreaker as the only team to defeat the common opponent, Omaha, in three sets.

OMAHA CHALLENGE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Annika Albrecht, Nebraska (Co-MVP)
Kelly Hunter, Nebraska
Heather Hook, UNI (Co-MVP)
Mackenzie Horkey, Omaha
Kendyl Sorge, UNI (Most Outstanding Libero)
Lauren Stivrins, Nebraska
Piper Thomas, UNI
Bryna Vogel, Kansas State