UNI Volleyball Hosts Iowa State, Washington State

GAME NOTES l WATCH LIVE/PANTHER SPORTS NETWORK l LIVE STATS l LISTEN KXEL

THE PANTHERS
• UNI started the 2018 season in exciting fashion, picking up a pair of wins over Top 15 opponents at the USC Trojan Invite.
• The season continues with exciting fashion this week, with UNI hosting Iowa State (RV) on Wednesday and Washington State (RV) on Friday and Saturday.
• UNI swept No. 13 Creighton in the season opener 25-23, 25-22, 25-19.
• The Panthers fell to No. 10 USC in a back and forth battle 27-25, 25-23, 25-20.
• UNI closed the weekend with a come-from-behind win over No. 5 Kentucky 23-25, 25-20, 11-25, 25-17, 15-8.
• The outstanding opening weekend caught national attention. UNI jumped into the AVCA Poll at the No. 17 spot after not receiving a vote in the preseason poll.
• The season continues with exciting fashion this week, with UNI hosting Iowa State (RV) on Wednesday and Washington State (RV) on Friday and Saturday.
• Karlie Taylor was named the MVC Conference Player of the Week after leading the Panthers in kills and points and earning a spot on the Trojan Invite All-Tournament Team. Rachel Koop also earned All-Tournament Team honors.
• The Panthers were picked to finish first in the Missouri Valley Conference after finishing second last year.
• UNI returns four of seven starters from a season ago, including MVC All-Freshman honoree Jaydlin Seehase and kill leader and First-Team All-MVC honoree Piper Thomas, but must replace First-Team All-MVC honoree Bri Weber and MVC Setter of the Year Heather Hook.
• The Panthers rank No. 8 all-time in NCAA Division I winning percentage (.773). UNI trails only Penn State (.863), Hawaii (.852), Nebraska (.843), Florida (.833), Stanford (.813), BYU (.778) and UCLA (.774).
• UNI, Hawaii, Nebraska, Stanford, Penn State and UCLA lead the nation with 37 consecutive non-losing seasons in NCAA Division I volleyball.
• UNI has posted 32 straight NCAA Division I winning seasons – the fifth-longest active streak in the nation behind Hawaii (37), Nebraska (37), Penn State (37) and Stanford (37).
• The Panthers consistently have ranked among the national leaders in attendance, including ranking No. 13 in the nation in 2015 with an average of 2,277 fans per home match.
• Head coach Bobbi Petersen is entering her 19th year at the helm of the Panther program with a record of 461-141. She has led the Panthers to 13 NCAA Tournament appearances.

HOME SWEET HOME
After a weekend on the road, the Panthers host a pair of Power-Five schools for three games. The Panthers host cross-state rival Iowa State (RV) in the home opener before playing Pac-12 contender Washington State (RV).

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

Chris Kleinhans-Schulz will again be the play-by-play voice for the Panther volleyball squad.

Listen here
Wed., vs. Iowa State KXEL (1540-AM)
Fri., vs. Washington State - KXEL (1540-AM)
Sat., vs. Washington State - KXEL (1540-AM)

WATCH LIVE
All three games this weekend will be available on ESPN+ via the Panther Sports Network. Wednesday's game is available on CFU Channel 15, KCRG-TV ABC Channel 9, WHO 13, KGCW 26, NBC Sports Chicago.

ABOUT IOWA STATE (RV)
Iowa State opened the season in the AVCA Preseason Poll, but fell out of the Top-25 after starting the season 2-1 at the Iowa State Challenge. They topped Ole Miss and Virginia, but fell in a close match to Oregon State. Grace Lazard led the Cyclones in the opening weekend and was named the Co-MVP of the tournament. Lazard notched 35 kills with just three errors and a .485 attack percentage.

The game is the 56th meeting between the two programs. The Panthers hold a 28-27 edge in the series history.

The previous meeting in Cedar Falls was the longest match in the NCAA that season, running two hours and 57 minutes.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (RV)
The Cougars come to the McLeod Center and Cedar Falls for the first time ever. Washington State is 2-0 on the year after sweeping VCU and defeating NC State 3-1 in impressive fashion, breaking the NC State 12-match home win streak. Taylor Mims was named the Tournament MVP and is averaging 4.43 kills per set.

The game is the sixth meeting in the series history and the first since 2002. The Panthers own a 3-2 record over the Cougars. UNI won the first three matchups and WAZZU picked up the last two wins.
STIFF NON-CONFERENCE SETUP
Head coach Bobbi Petersen has lined up a loaded non-conference schedule that will feature nine matches against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Top 25.

Preseason Ranked or Receiving Votes
#5 Kentucky
#12 Illinois
#10   Southern California
#13   Creighton (two matches)
#21   Iowa State
RV   Washington State (two matches)
RV Marquette

13 CONSECUTIVE YEARS OF APR RECOGNITION, PERFECTION
For the past 13 years the NCAA has recognized teams in the top-10 percent of the Academic Progress Report and the UNI volleyball team has been on the list all 13 years.

In fact, the UNI volleyball team has had a perfect score of 1,000 in each of the 13 years.

UNI volleyball is one of 85 programs in the nation to have earned the recognition in each of the 13 years teams have been honored.

POLLING NUMBERS
UNI has been ranked in the AVCA Top 25 117 times in program history - the most in the Missouri Valley Conference.

By comparison, the rest of the current teams in the MVC have been ranked 52 times (Wichita State - 35; Illinois State - 14; Missouri State - 3).

In the state of Iowa, UNI's 110 poll rankings puts it on top. Iowa State has been ranked in 77 polls, while Iowa has been ranked in one.

UNI has been ranked in the top 10 in the AVCA poll on 25 occasions. Wichita State has twice been ranked in the top 10 for the second-best number in the MVC.

UNI's highest ranking in the AVCA Top 25 is No. 6 (Sept. 15, 2003).

17 MVC REGULAR SEASON TITLES
The Panthers have tallied 17 MVC regular season titles through the years.

UNI won the regular season title in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013.

19 NCAA APPEARANCES
In its 19 trips to the NCAA tournament, UNI has posted 15 wins, advancing to at least the second round 12 times.

UNI has advanced as far as the NCAA's Sweet 16 three times since 1999. In 2002, the Panthers went into the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed in the East Region.

PANTHERS PICKED TO WIN MVC IN PRESEASON POLL
The Panthers earned one first-place vote in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference coaches poll.

UNI is projected to finish first, ahead of Missouri State, Illinois State and Drake.

2018 PRESEASON POLL
Rank Team (1st-place votes) Points
1. UNI (7)........................................ 95
2. Missouri State (3)...................... 89
3. Illinois State............................... 84
4. Drake ......................................... 69
5. Valparaiso.................................. 53
6. Indiana State.............................. 50
7. Bradley....................................... 35
8. Loyola......................................... 33
9. Evansville................................... 23
10. Southern Illinois ..................... 19

FAN FAVORITES
The Panthers consistently have ranked among the national leaders in attendance, including ranking No. 15 in the nation in 2017 with an average of 2,437 fans per home match.

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Heather Hook

Rachel Koop

Jaydlin Seehase

Karlie Taylor

Piper Thomas

Bri Weber

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