Panthers Topped by Purple Aces Friday

Friday, October 15

Cedar Falls, Iowa

6 pm

University of Northern Iowa

7-13,2-5MVC

University of Evansville

14-4,4-3MVC

Evansville

UNI

Panthers Topped by Purple Aces Friday

10/15/2021 8:50:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – After winning the first set Friday in the McLeod Center, the UNI Panther volleyball team dropped the next three frames in a 3-1 loss to the Evansville Purple Aces. UNI had a 25-17 victory in the opening stanza before Evansville tallied wins of 25-16, 29-27, and 25-20.

The Panthers led the Purple Aces in digs by a 58-to-57 margin. UNI also collected 59 kills for the match including 22 terminations in the third set alone. The Panthers hit .242 offensively, added three service aces, and notched six blocks overall.

Kira Fallert paced the Panthers with 14 kills. Inga Rotto and Carly Spies followed with season highs of 12 and 11 terminations, respectively. Tayler Alden posted a season-best 37 assists, and Jenna Brandt had 10 assists along with 12 digs in a double-double. Payton Ahrenstorff's 15 digs tied for the match high.

Set 1: UNI won the first frame due in large part to a strong performance by Kira Fallert. Her back-to-back kills broke a 3-3 tie to put the Panthers in the lead, and she later tallied a kill and an ace over consecutive points to start the 7-1 closing run that secured the 25-17 triumph.

Set 2: The Panthers leveled the set early at 2-2 on a Carly Spies termination and at 5-5 on another score from Kira Fallert. However, Evansville rattled off seven of the next eight points and would square the match, 1-1, with a 25-16 win.

Set 3: Following a quick 1-1 tie, the Purple Aces surged in front and led by as many as five points until the Panthers stormed back. Jenna Brandt's ace evened the score at 20-20. UNI later had set point chances at 24-23 and 25-24, but Evansville ultimately prevailed by a 29-27 margin.

Set 4: UNI fell behind in the fourth but rallied ahead, 11-8, after Inga Rotto's consecutive kills and combined block with Tayler Alden finished a 5-0 spurt. It was 17-17 when the Purple Aces broke loose and earned the 25-20 victory for their first-ever road win over the Panthers.

UP NEXT:
The Panthers will take on the Indiana State Sycamores in the McLeod Center for Saturday's homestand finale. First serve is slated for 6 pm, and fans can either follow the match in person or tune in to audio coverage on unipanthers.com.