Panther volleyball bests Belmont for 3-0 victory

Saturday, October 29

Cedar Falls, Iowa

5 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

20-6,13-0MVC

Belmont

7-19,3-10MVC

Belmont

UNI

Baylee Petersen Olivia Tjernagel Tayler Alden

Panther volleyball bests Belmont for 3-0 victory

10/29/2022 7:49:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Match 26 Stats vs. Belmont

Baylee, Bobbi Petersen both reach milestones Saturday

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The UNI Panther volleyball team needed only 66 minutes to treat its McLeod Center crowd to a 3-0 sweep (25-17, 25-13, 25-13) Saturday over the Belmont Bruins. Baylee Petersen registered her 1,000^th career dig within the contest, and Bobbi Petersen picked up her 550^th win as a head coach.

UNI is now 20-6 overall including 13-0 against Missouri Valley Conference opposition. Belmont slipped to 7-19 and 3-10, respectively. The Panthers, which led for the entire match aside from an early tie during the third set, ended the evening with statistical advantages for hitting (.333 to .071), digs (41 to 38), and service aces (eight to three). The Bruins edged the Panthers in blocking by a 5.5-to-3 margin.

Baylee Petersen, who became the 19^th person to post at least 1,000 digs as a Panther, had seven total digs in the sweep. Payton Ahrenstorff highlighted all servers by tallying a personal-best four aces. Kira Fallert's 11 kills and nine digs paced UNI for both categories. Inga Rotto went 8-of-16 in her offensive outing for a .500 attack percentage. Tayler Alden totaled a match-high 37 assists, and Emily Holterhaus shared the contest lead for blocks with two rejections.

The Panthers scored the first four points Saturday en route to an 11-3 start. Fallert tallied three kills, one ace, and a block assist during that dominant stretch. UNI led from wire to wire in the opening stanza with Fallert recording six total terminations during the 25-17 Panther triumph.

UNI transitioned from Baylee Petersen's 1000^th dig into a Carly Spies kill to cap a 3-0 opening within the second set. The lead quickly ballooned into 15-5 and gave the Panthers enough breathing room to dig into their bench. Layanna Green made her collegiate debut, and Megan Witte collected kills for UNI's final four points in a 25-13 win.

In the third, Belmont responded to an Olivia Tjernagel termination by forcing its only tie at 1-1. The Bruins would stay close after falling behind before UNI lifted its slim 9-8 advantage into a 17-8 margin thanks to a nine-point outburst which included three Ahrenstorff service winners. Near the end of the contest, Sydney Golden began her home debut with an ace on her first collegiate serve. She added her first-ever assist on Kaylissa Arndorfer's match-closing kill for a 25-13 finish to the frame and the evening.

Upcoming action includes the Panthers starting the month of November with back-to-back road tilts. UNI will play Illinois State at 6 p.m. Friday in Redbird Arena featuring coverage on News/Talk 1540 KXEL and ESPN3. The Panthers also take on Bradley next week with first serve scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday inside Renaissance Coliseum and broadcasts available at UNIpanthers.com and ESPN3.