UNI Volleyball Set For MVC Tournament

This Week's Action:

2018 Missouri Valley Conference Championships
Semifinal: Friday, Nov. 23 – Missouri State University (Hammons Student Center)
UNI (RV) vs. Missouri State or Valparaiso 7:30 p.m. CT | ESPN+ | Audio | Stats

Final: Saturday, Nov. 24 – Missouri State University (Hammons Student Center)
TBA vs. TBA 4 p.m. CT | ESPN+ | Audio | Stats

MVC Tournament Bracket
Full Game Notes

THE PANTHERS
• After losing to Evansville in five sets on Friday night the Panthers finished the regular season with a 3 set sweep of Indiana State to secure a share of the MVC Regular Season Title and locked down the #1 seed in the MVC Tournament.
• 2018's share is Bobbi Petersen's eighth MVC Regular Season Title, the first since 2013.
• Entering the tournament UNI leads the Valley in, kills per set (14.86), assists (1582) and assists per set (14.00), and rank second in the Valley in hitting percentage (.246) and kills (1679).
• Karlie Taylor owns a league-high 4.80 kills per set, Piper Thomas is second in the league with a .347 attack percentage while Rachel Koop tops the conference at 11.81 assists per set.
• Within Valley-only action UNI leads the Valley in, kills (1042), kills per set (15.55), assists (983) assists per set (14.67), and hitting percentage (.268).
• Within MVC-only action, Karlie Taylor paces all individuals with 4.83 kills per set and leads the league in points per set with 5.27. Piper Thomas leads the league with a .400 hitting percentage.
• Nationally, Karlie Taylor ranks 8th in kills per set.
• Nationally, Rachel Koop ranks 6th in assists per set.
• Panthers rank 3rd in the NCAA in assists per set.
• Panthers rank 4th in the NCAA in kills per set
• UNI is ranked 22nd nationally in the NCAA's RPI release from November 18. The Panthers are also receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25, receiving 15 votes.

ANOTHER REGULAR SEASON CROWN
With the victory over Indiana State last weekend the Panthers share the regular season title with Illinois State. Both teams finished with a 16-2 MVC record. The Panthers have the #1 seed in the MVC tournament and receive a first round bye. The Panthers will play in the semifinal on Friday afternoon, taking on either Valparaiso or Missouri State.

RADIO COVERAGE
Live radio coverage of the UNI Panther volleyball team can be found on www.UNIPanthers.com and KXEL (1540-AM) with Chris Kleinhans-Schulz on the call. All audio this year will be free of charge (no subscription service).

LISTEN HERE
MVC semifinal match – KPTY-AM 1330 and FM 107.3

WATCH LIVE
The MVC Tournament will be exclusively broadcast on ESPN+

VALPARAISO CRUSADERS
The Crusaders finished the regular season with a 24-9 overall record and 11-7 mark in the MVC. The Crusaders rank in the middle of the conference is most statistical categories but finished league play third in digs per set with 18.17 and fourth in service aces with just under one per set. Valpo's Rylee Cookerly has had an impressive season for the Crusaders, finishing with 370 total digs in league play and averaged 5.29 digs per set. UNI leads the series, 10-0

MISSOURI STATE BEARS
The Bears ended the regular season with a 17-14 record and a 10-8 in the MVC. A resilient team for Missouri State, the Bears were on the cusp of making the tournament and won six of their last eight matches to secure the #5 seed. The Bear offense is ran through setter Cloe Rear who recorded 809 total assists in conference play, averaging 12.07 assists per set. UNI leads the series, 52-26

MVC SEEDS
1 Seed: UNI
2 Seed: Illinois State
3 Seed: Bradley
4 Seed: Valparaiso
5 Seed: Missouri State
6 Seed: Drake

NCAA RPI REPORT
The latest edition of the NCAA RPI has UNI at #22 with Illinois State coming in at #31, Valpo at #72 and Bradley coming in at #89. The Panthers are just one of twenty teams to have eight or more matches against teams in the top 25 of the RPI. UNI is also one of 29 teams to have at least two top 25 RPI wins.

REGULAR SEASON TITLES
The Panthers have captured their 18th regular season title, eight more than the next MVC school.

School                    No.
UNI                          18
Illinois State 10
Missouri State 9
Wichita State 6
Creighton 1
Southern Illinois 1

TOURNAMENT VICTORIES
Panthers lead the 2018 field in tournament victories.

School                    No.
UNI                          44
Illinois State 39
Missouri State 35
Bradley 4
Drake 4
Valparaiso 0

ADVANCING
Since the 2011 season, every team that has moved on to the MVC Tournament Finals have earned a bid in the NCAA tournament. The only exceptions came in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

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Rachel Koop

Karlie Taylor

Piper Thomas

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