UNI volleyball returns to McLeod Center this weekend

UNI volleyball vs. Bradley (Homecoming | Title IX Game)

6 p.m. CT | Oct. 7
Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
1540 KXEL - Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
ESPN3
Live Stats

UNI volleyball vs. Illinois State (Homecoming | Purple Out)

7 p.m. CT | Oct. 8
Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
UNIpanthers.com (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
Live Stats

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The first-place UNI Panther volleyball team follows a 4-0 Missouri Valley Conference road swing with a five-match homestand that gets underway this weekend with visits from the Bradley Braves and the Illinois State Redbirds. UNI, which was on the road for its first four league tilts for the first time ever, goes into this stretch at home as the only undefeated team left in MVC play.

Last week, UNI picked up a 3-1 win Friday at Missouri State before earning a Saturday sweep at Southern Illinois. Inga Rotto became UNI's all-time leader in matches played and inched closer to breaking the program record for sets played. Also during the past weekend, Emily Holterhaus became the 29^th Panther to reach 1,000 career kills, and Sydney Petersen, who was named MVC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time, tallied the 100^th service ace of her college career.

BRADLEY BRAVES
• UNI is 69-12 in head-to-head meetings with Bradley. The Panthers are 31-1 at home in this series with 31 consecutive wins.
• Bradley, which was in fourth place for the MVC preseason poll, snapped its 0-4 conference skid with a 3-1 home win over I-74 rival Illinois State.
• New head coach Alicia Williams returns to the state of Iowa this week. She helped Iowa Western to three NJCAA national titles between 13 total years across her coaching and playing tenures.
• Karagan Coggin is an MVC Preseason All-Conference selection, and Kendall Minta is one of a handful of MVC blockers averaging more than one rejection per set (1.02).
• Last year, the Braves reached the second round of the 2021 NIVC after an MVC Championship berth and a tie for third place in the league standings with Valparaiso at 12-6.

ILLINOIS STATE REDBIRDS
• UNI leads Illinois State, 55-30, in the all-time series. The Panthers hold an 8-7 advantage across the last 15 meetings.
• Illinois State was tabbed the MVC's preseason favorite, but the Redbirds are 1-4 to start league action including a 3-1 loss at I-74 rival Bradley.
• First-year head coach Allie Matters recently had a successful tenure at Wright State which included leading the Raiders to their first-ever win in an NCAA Championship tournament match in 2020-21.
• Sarah Kushner and Kaity Weimerskirch were both MVC Preseason All-Conference picks this year.
• Illinois State is coming off its fourth consecutive NCAA Championship berth and its third MVC Championship title in a row.

PANTHER NOTES
• Inga Rotto has not missed a single match during her UNI career. She has played in 139 consecutive contests since 2018 to break the new Panther record for matches played. Her 509 total sets put her in third behind Piper Thomas (510) and Kendyl Sorge (512) on that all-time list.
• Emily Holterhaus has appeared in 105 consecutive tilts since becoming a Panther in 2019. She is on a career-best 12-tilt double-figure kill streak with exactly 13 terminations in each of her last five outings.
• Competing in her final collegiate season, Baylee Petersen is 56 digs shy of earning 1,000 digs in her career. Last week, she combined with twin sister Sydney Petersen for a 1.000 reception percentage across 48 attempts. It was the first week this season where both Petersens were errorless on receive.
• Olivia Tjernagel owns an active-team-high 18-match blocking streak. This stretch, which is the longest of her career, started Nov. 12, 2021 at Indiana State.
• UNI is ranked at No. 72 in the NCAA's first RPI report of the season. The Panthers are third in the MVC behind Valparaiso (No. 63) and UIC (No. 64) while also tied with the Flames for the most RPI Top 100 wins among MVC programs (three).
• The Panthers top all conference defenses with a league-only-best .159 opposing hitting percentage. UNI has held its MVC opposition to a lower clip in each successive conference win (.195, .176, .149, .085).
• Head coach Bobbi Petersen is 5-for-12 in video challenges this season. In comparison, 2022 Panther opponents are a combined 5-of-16 in replay reviews versus UNI.

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