UNI picks up four-set win at Evansville

Saturday, October 22

Evansville, Ind.

5 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

18-6,11-0MVC

Evansville

8-17,5-6MVC

UNI

Evansville

UNI picks up four-set win at Evansville

10/22/2022 8:09:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Match 24 Stats at Evansville

Panthers secure conference tournament berth

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – During its October visit to Meeks Family Fieldhouse, the UNI Panther volleyball team booked a return trip to Evansville for the 2022 Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Championship in November thanks to a 3-1 victory (25-14, 23-25, 25-15, 25-19) Saturday against the Evansville Purple Aces.

UNI (18-6 overall, 11-0 MVC) guaranteed a spot within the eight-team tournament field by defeating Evansville (8-17 overall, 5-6 MVC) in the only regular season meeting between these programs. The Panthers outdid the Purple Aces for all major team statistical categories including hitting (.342 to .176), digs (51 to 41), aces (nine to two), and blocks (five to three).

Inga Rotto registered a career-best .652 attack percentage and produced a season-high 16 kills. Kira Fallert collected 14 terminations including the 500^th kill of her career. Emily Holterhaus also reached double digits with 10 kills. Tayler Alden dished out a match-leading 40 assists. Payton Ahrenstorff's career-high-tying three aces paced all servers. Sydney Petersen had a contest-best 16 digs. Fallert and Carly Spies each posted two blocks with Spies recording her 300^th career rejection.

Leads were exchanged several times early in the first set before UNI uncorked a 13-2 outburst and built a dominant 17-7 edge. Holterhaus was the top performer within the seven consecutive points at the end of that swing as she notched three kills and a solo block. The Panthers hit .370 while holding the Purple Aces to .000 and earning a 25-14 triumph.

Ties filled the initial portion of the second stanza up through 13-13. A kill from Spies opened UNI's 4-1 tiebreaking surge that was paused in the middle for nearly 10 minutes due to an extended challenge review process. Evansville later pulled even, 21-21, and immediately fell back behind prior to a 4-1 closing spurt that clinched a 25-23 win to level the match at 1-1.

UNI showed its resiliency by starting the third frame with a 5-0 stretch which included two Fallert kills and back-to-back Spies aces. The Panther offense could not be contained with UNI totaling 16 kills compared to four errors on 24 attempts for a team clip of .500 in the set. Rotto went 5-of-5 and was matched in kills by Holterhaus who capped the 25-15 victory which put the Panthers ahead again, 2-1.

The fourth set got to 10-10 after nine quick deadlocks between UNI and Evansville. The Panthers unleashed another run with an Ahrenstorff ace, back-to-back Rotto kills, and a Fallert solo stuff coming during a streak of five points in a row. UNI carried its lead to the end of the match. Rotto tallied seven of her 16 total kills in the fourth featuring a match-point termination to wrap up the 25-19 triumph and the four-set win.

Coming up, UNI faces a pair of conference newcomers in the McLeod Center next week. The Panthers will square off with the Murray State Racers at 6 p.m. Friday on News/Talk 1540 KXEL and ESPN3 before taking on the Belmont Bruins at 5 p.m. Saturday with coverage via UNIpanthers.com and ESPN3. UNI is hosting a Black Out and Trick-or-Treat for the Saturday homestand finale.