Panther volleyball falls to Iowa in straight sets

Saturday, September 17

Coralville, Iowa

2 P.M.

University of Northern Iowa

7-6,0-0MVC

Iowa

6-5,0-0Big Ten

UNI

Iowa

Panther volleyball falls to Iowa in straight sets

9/17/2022 4:19:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Match 13 Stats at Iowa Photo Gallery

UNI finishes second at Hawkeye Invitational; Holterhaus and Rotto named to All-Tournament Team; Sydney Petersen Defensive MVP

CORALVILLE, Iowa --- UNI volleyball faced a tough challenge on defense on Saturday afternoon as the Panthers fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes in straight sets in the final match of the Hawkeye Invitational at Xtream Arena (17-25, 16-25, 23-25).

UNI finishes the weekend with a 2-1 record with a second-place finish in the four-team field. Emily Holterhaus and Inga Rotto were selected as the Panthers' representatives on the All-Tournament Team, with Sydney Petersen being selected as the tournament's defensive MVP.

Holterhaus led the Panther offense with 13 kills in the loss as Sydney Petersen recorded 12 digs on defense. Tayler Alden tallied 23 assists with one service ace, while Baylee Petersen, Kira Fallert and Payton Ahrenstorff each recorded an ace at the service line. Carly Spies anchored the UNI defense at the net with 4 total blocks.

Set 1 (IOWA, 25-17): Iowa brought high energy to both offense and defense, notching 14 kills on a .462 hitting percentage, plus 4 team blocks. Struggling to slow the Hawkeye net defense, UNI committed 6 attack errors in the opening frame, recording a .226 hitting percentage with 13 team kills. After trailing by single digits from the early portion of the set, Iowa took a double-digit lead on a 7-0 run en route to an 8-point victory. Holterhaus tallied 5 kills, with Baylee Petersen and Ahrenstorff both recording 3 digs each.

Set 2 (IOWA, 25-16): UNI jumped out to a short 3-0 lead to open the second set, but struggled against the Hawkeye net defense. Iowa recorded 16 kills in the second stanza on a .382 hitting percentage, using a 9-0 run to take control and hold the lead for the remainder of the set. The Panthers notched 10 kills with 4 attack errors on a .200 hitting percentage, with Holterhaus leading with 3 kills. Alden added 7 assists to her total with one ace, with Sydney Petersen recording 5 digs, and Spies blocking a pair of attacks.

Set 3 (IOWA, 25-23): The Panthers made a valiant effort late, but fell short of extending the match in a highly competitive third set. Trailing by as many as 5 points, UNI staved off 5 match points by Iowa before the Hawkeyes snapped the Panther rally to win the frame by 2 points. The Panthers tallied a match-high 16 kills in the third stanza on a .214 hitting percentage, forcing 4 Hawkeye errors. Off the bench, Megan Witte recorded 6 kills, with 5 kills from Holterhaus. Baylee Petersen and Ahrenstorff both recorded one service ace each.

PANTHER NOTES

UNI leads the all-time series against the Hawkeyes 26-23. Saturday's match was the first meeting between the two programs since 2005.
Saturday's match was the 1,600th match in program history for UNI. The Panthers hold an all-time record of 1,155-423-22 (.728 winning percentage)
Tayler Alden became the 11th player in program history to record 2,000 career assists. Alden finishes the weekend with 2,016 assists for her career.
Inga Rotto played in her 135th career match on Saturday, joining the program's top-10 list all-time.
With 13 kills today, Emily Holterhaus reached 964 kills in her career, 36 shy of 1,000.
Head coach Bobbi Petersen was one-for-two in challenges against Iowa. Coach Petersen is 5-for-8 in challenges on the season.

HAWKEYE INVITATIONAL ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Amiya Jones, MH (Iowa) [MVP]
Toyosi Onabajo, OH (Iowa)
Sydney Petersen, L (UNI) [Defensive MVP]
Emily Holterhaus, OH (UNI)
Inga Rotto, MB (UNI)
Mahalia White, OH (North Florida)
Crystal Burk, OH (South Dakota State)

UP NEXT
UNI will open Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play next Friday, Sept. 23 at Valparaiso at 6 p.m. CT at the Athletics-Recreation Center. The Panthers will also battle for the UIC Flames in MVC play for the first time on Saturday, Sept. 24 at the Flames Athletic Center in Chicago at 5 p.m. CT.

Friday's match at Valparaiso will be streamed live on ESPN3, with radio coverage being carried on the Panther Sports Radio Network via 1540 KXEL. Saturday's match at UIC can be heard live on UNIpanthers.com.