Panther volleyball continues MVC road swing

UNI volleyball at Missouri State
6 p.m. CT | Sept. 30

Springfield, Mo. | Hammons Student Center (8,846)
1540 KXEL - Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
ESPN3
Live Stats

UNI volleyball at Southern Illinois
5 p.m. CT | Oct. 1

Carbondale, Ill. | Davies Gym (1,250)
UNIpanthers.com (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
ESPN3
Live Stats

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Following wins at Valparaiso and UIC to open its Missouri Valley Conference slate, the UNI Panther volleyball team goes back on the road this week with visits to Missouri State and Southern Illinois. This current four-match swing is the first time in program history that the Panthers will play their first four conference tilts away from home.

UNI overcame several significant deficits including a 25-24 Valpo match point in the fourth set within a 3-2 come-from-behind victory Friday against the Beacons before adding a 3-1 win Saturday over the Flames. Kira Fallert tallied 33 kills for the week featuring a season-high 18 terminations in the league opener. Olivia Tjernagel had a breakout performance in Chicago with a career-best 15 kills on a .565 attack percentage.

MISSOURI STATE BEARS
• UNI owns a 55-28 head-to-head advantage over Missouri State. Each of the previous two regular season series have ended as 1-1 splits.
• The Panthers won the last meeting in straight sets Nov. 6, 2021 in the McLeod Center. UNI tallied eight aces during the sweep while allowing none.
• Picked seventh in the MVC preseason poll, Missouri State is tied for first place early in league play after a 3-1 win at Belmont and a 3-2 triumph at Murray State.
• Outside hitter Manuela Ibarguen tops the Bears with 3.21 kills per set while libero Kate Owen leads the team in digs (206) and aces (16).
• In 2021, Missouri State finished seventh in the MVC standings with an 8-10 league record as part of a 17-13 season.

SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SALUKIS
• UNI is 66-13 versus Southern Illinois featuring 11 consecutive victories dating back to 2016. This streak includes five Panther road wins in succession.
• The last matchup was a 3-1 Panther home win Nov. 5, 2021 with Tayler Alden tying her career high in terminations (16 kills) to highlight a triple-double.
• Southern Illinois landed in 12th place for the MVC preseason poll but is currently tied for first at 2-0 following five-set wins at Murray State and Belmont.
• Setter Anna Jaworski paces the entire league with 10.67 assists per set, and middle hitter Imani Hartfield is her most efficient target featuring a .361 hitting clip.
• This past year, the Salukis were 5-26 overall and 0-18 against MVC foes in their first-ever winless conference season.

PANTHER NOTES
• Inga Rotto has not missed a single match during her UNI career with 137 consecutive contests played since 2018, and she is on pace to set the school record for most matches (138) which is currently held by Jill Arganbright, Molly O'Brien, Piper Thomas, and Kendyl Sorge.
• Emily Holterhaus has appeared in 103 consecutive tilts since becoming a Panther in 2019, and she is 10 kills away from registering 1,000 total kills for her career. 28 previous Panthers have reached the milestone, and UNI's last attacker to get there was Karlie Taylor (Nov. 3, 2018 at Illinois State).
• Competing in her final collegiate season, Baylee Petersen is 73 digs shy of earning 1,000 digs in her career.
• Having notched 82 service aces at Texas and 14 service winners so far this season, Sydney Petersen is four aces away from 100 in her career.
• Tayler Alden is UNI's active career leader in double-doubles (27) and triple-doubles (five). Her five triple-doubles are tied for the third-best total in program history. Three of those triple-doubles have come against this weekend's opponents.
• Head coach Bobbi Petersen is 5-for-9 in video challenges this season. In comparison, 2022 Panther opponents are a combined 4-of-14 in matches with UNI.

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