Panther volleyball closes October at home

UNI volleyball vs. Murray State

6 p.m. CT | Oct. 28
Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,500)
1540 KXEL - Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
ESPN3
Live Stats

UNI volleyball vs. Belmont (Black Out | Trick-Or-Treat)

5 p.m. CT | Oct. 29
Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,500)
UNIpanthers.com (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
ESPN3
Live Stats

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Two of the Missouri Valley Conference's newest volleyball programs come to the McLeod Center this week to face the league-leading UNI Panther volleyball team. UNI looks to maintain its perfect mark in conference play while facing the Murray State Racers and the Belmont Bruins in this two-match homestand. The Panthers are 11-0 to begin their league slate for the ninth time in program history, and all eight previous instances led to at least a share of a conference championship.

In last week's road trip, UNI swept the Indiana State Sycamores before earning a 3-1 win over the Evansville Purple Aces. The four-set victory also guaranteed a return trip to Evansville for next month's Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Championship. During that match, Kira Fallert surpassed 500 career kills, and Carly Spies recorded her 300^th collegiate block. Plus, Inga Rotto continued an efficient October by notching a career-best .652 attack percentage with 16 kills compared to one error on 23 attempts.

MURRAY STATE RACERS
• Murray State lost its only previous meeting with UNI, 3-0 (15-4, 15-2, 15-12), in the 1989 Saint Louis Invitational. Current UNI head coach Bobbi (Becker) Petersen had 19 digs and 12 kills in the match.
• The Racers finished in 10th place for the MVC preseason poll and enters this weekend in a tie for sixth place with the Evansville Purple Aces.
• Murray State is 3-1 across the previous two weekends including a reserve sweep at Missouri State to begin this stretch.
• Racer setter Bailey DeMier is one of two MVC performers with a triple-double this season (joined by UNI's Tayler Alden).
• In its final season in the Ohio Valley Conference, Murray State finished in a fourth-place tie and later reached the OVC Semifinals before losing to eventual champion Southeast Missouri.

BELMONT BRUINS
• Belmont has never played UNI. The Panthers are 2-0 against first-time opponents this year (CSU Bakersfield, Grand Canyon).
• The Bruins were 11th in the MVC preseason poll and currently occupy 11th place in the league standings.
• Belmont looks to snap a six-contest skid which followed a 3-2 start to conference play.
• Bruin outside hitter Laura Shoopman leads Belmont with 310 kills and 21 service aces (tied).
• During their last year of Ohio Valley Conference competition, Belmont finished in seventh place and lost its league tournament opener against Morehead State.

PANTHER NOTES
• Tayler Alden leads all active Panthers with 31 career double-doubles. She also has five career triple-doubles to tie for the third-best total in program history. Emily Holterhaus has notched 21 career double-doubles while Kira Fallert has seven to her name, and Sydney Petersen owns two.
• Inga Rotto has not missed a single match during her UNI career. Rotto owns the UNI career record for total matches played (146) along with the all-time mark for total sets played (535).
• Competing in her final collegiate season, Baylee Petersen is 11 digs shy of 1,000 career digs and nine aces away from 100 total aces.
• Emily Holterhaus is currently two blocks short of 200 career rejections and enters this week 10th in Panther history for career attacks (3,370). Plus, Holterhaus has appeared in 112 consecutive tilts since becoming a Panther in 2019.
• Payton Ahrenstorff and Kira Fallert each have 470 career digs putting both Panthers on the approach towards of 500 career digs.
• The Panthers are the only team in the nation with a true road victory at Iowa State. The Cyclones are 7-1 in Hilton Coliseum including a recent win over then-undefeated and No. 1 Texas.
• Only Hofstra (12-0, CAA), Loyola (12-0, A-10), and Wright State (11-0, Horizon) can match or exceed UNI's 11-0 league record.
• The Panthers are perfect in fourth sets against MVC competition (8-0). UNI's overall record in fourth frames is 12-3 with all 12 of those victories in succession beginning in the home opener against Western Michigan in September's UNI Tournament.
• UNI is 12-6 in "deuce sets" including 6-2 in extended frames with four wins in a row during stanzas that go into "bonus ball".
• The Panthers rank 22nd nationally and 1st in the MVC for average attendance (1,907).
• In October, Inga Rotto is hitting .444 with seven double-figure outings in eight starts.
• Carly Spies had no attack errors in the past week's trip with 14 kills on 29 attempts (.483).
• UNI had a .969 reception percentage last week with perfect receiving from Baylee Petersen (no errors, 34 attempts), Sydney Petersen (0, 21), and Payton Ahrenstorff (0, 19).
• Head coach Bobbi Petersen is 6-for-15 in video challenges. In comparison, Panther opponents are a combined 11-of-28.

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