UNI wins wild five-set marathon

Saturday, November 13

Evansville, IN

5 pm

University of Northern Iowa

12-17,7-9MVC

University of Evansville

18-9,8-8MVC

UNI

Evansville

UNI wins wild five-set marathon

11/13/2021 8:45:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – After nearly three hours of volleyball Saturday, the UNI Panthers emerged from Meeks Family Fieldhouse with a 3-2 win over the Evansville Purple Aces by set scores of 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 33-35, and 19-17. This was the second time this season that UNI won a contest after facing at least one match point.

UNI hit .315 as a team and collected season highs of 82 kills and 70 assists. The Panthers also topped the Purple Aces with an 11-to-8 advantage in service aces and a 70-to-67 edge in digs. Both sides registered 11 blocks.

Kira Fallert's career-best 25 kills on .524 hitting highlighted UNI's winning effort. Tayler Alden had a double-double with 31 assists and 15 digs along with a personal-high-tying five aces without any errors. Emily Holterhaus tallied 15 digs and 14 kills in her own double-double. Payton Ahrenstorff notched a personal-best 23 digs, and Olivia Tjernagel recorded a career-high-tying six blocks.

Set 1: Evansville and UNI traded 3-0 runs to start the match. The Purple Aces broke away and led by six points several times prior to a Panther comeback. Emily Holterhaus tallied a kill that evened the score at 23-23. Evansville responded with back-to-back points to win, 25-23.

Set 2: Tayler Alden created another UNI rally beginning when Evansville held a 13-10 lead. Her kill and back-to-back aces sparked the four-point, go-ahead spurt. She also snapped a 20-20 tie with yet another termination, and she served up an ace on set point to secure the 25-21 triumph.

Set 3: The Panthers erased an early 1-0 deficit with four consecutive points. UNI stayed in front until Evansville forced a 21-21 tie. Tayler Alden posted a kill and an ace before terminations from Kira Fallert and Emily Holterhaus closed a 4-0 outburst and the latest 25-21 victory.

Set 4: UNI worked its way to a 24-19 advantage, but Evansville denied five match points in a row and extended the set. The Panthers ultimately had nine match-point opportunities while stopping the Purple Aces on their first five set-point tries. However, Evansville finally converted for a 35-33 win.

Set 5: Evansville's first match point at 14-13 was turned aside with a match-extending Carly Spies kill. Kira Fallert came through in the clutch by terminating another Purple Aces chance at 16-15 and adding a kill out of a 17-17 tie. On its 12^th match-point chance of the night, UNI earned the 19-17 victory on Tayler Alden's tip off the block.

UP NEXT:
The 2021 regular season ends in the McLeod Center as UNI hosts Valparaiso and Loyola next week. The Panthers will play the Beacons at 6 pm Friday before taking on the Ramblers at 6 pm Saturday.