Panther volleyball drops road match at No. 17 Creighton

Saturday, September 3

Omaha, Neb.

7:30 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

Creighton

Panther volleyball drops road match at No. 17 Creighton

9/3/2022 9:37:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Match 6 Stats at Creighton Photo Gallery

Carly Spies named to All-Tournament Team as UNI falls to Bluejays, 3-0

OMAHA, Neb. --- The UNI volleyball team made a late third set push in an attempt to extend the match, but ultimately fell short on Saturday night as the Panthers fell to the No. 17 Creighton Bluejays at D.J. Sokol on the final day of the Bluejay Invitational in straight sets, (17-25, 15-25, 21-25).

No. 16 Kentucky claimed the tournament title with a 3-0 record on the week, with Creighton taking second place with a 2-1 mark. No. 25 USC finished third, followed by the Panthers in fourth. UNI middle blocker Carly Spies was named as the Panthers' lone representative on the All-Tournament Team.

No. 17 Creighton | L, 0-3 (17-25, 15-25, 21-25)

Emily Holterhaus led the UNI offense with 11 kills with Spies and Inga Rotto both notching 8 kills in the loss. Tayler Alden tallied 26 assists and a season-high 11 digs for the Panthers, as Sydney Petersen led the UNI defense with 16 digs. Payton Ahrenstorff tied her career-best in service aces, serving up three aces in the third set.

Set 1 (CU, 25-17): Creighton dominated from the service line with 7 service aces in the opening set as the Panthers struggled to find consistency on offense. UNI was able to string together a quick 6-1 run early, but committed 7 attack errors as the Bluejay offense tallied 10 kills on 35 attempts. The Panthers were held to 8 kills on 32 attempts and a .031 attack percentage.

Set 2 (CU, 25-15): UNI fell behind 10-3 early and struggled to recover as the Bluejay offense continued to control the match at the service line with a pair of aces. While Rotto and Spies each notched 3 kills apiece for the Panthers in the set, Creighton posted 18 team kills with a .531 attack percentage, taking advantage of size at the net on defense. UNI recorded 10 kills as a team in the second stanza with 3 errors on 25 attempts and a .280 attack percentage.

Set 3 (CU, 21-25): The Panthers trailed by as many as 8 points in the third set before a furious comeback put the purple and gold back into contention. Creighton pulled ahead 19-11, before a 6-0 UNI run, aided by 4 aces by Ahrenstorff, closed the gap at 23-20. UNI recorded 15 kills on 42 attempts with a .167 attack percentage in the final frame, while the Bluejays notched 13 kills on a .324 attack percentage.

2022 Bluejay Invitational All-Tournament Team

Reagan Rutherford, RS (Kentucky) [MVP]
Emma Grome, S (Kentucky)
Elise Goetzinger, MB (Kentucky)
Kendra Wait, S (Creighton)
Keely Davis, OH (Creighton)
Gala Trubint, L (USC)
Carly Spies, MB (UNI)

PANTHER NOTES

UNI drops to 42-14 all-time against the Bluejays with Saturday night's loss. Creighton has won the last 5 meetings against the Panthers, including 9 of the last 11 matchups since joining the Big East Conference in 2013.
Creighton finished the match with 11 service aces on the night to UNI's 5.
Head coach Bobbi Petersen is 21-55 against ranked opponents in her career after facing a trio of ranked teams this weekend in Omaha.
Sydney Petersen is 12 service aces away from 100 in her career. The fifth-year libero notched 82 aces at Texas from 2018-21, and has recorded 6 this season with the Panthers.

UP NEXT
The Panthers return to the McLeod Center for their home opener next Friday, Sept. 9, hosting the UNI Tournament. UNI will open the tournament against the Broncos of Western Michigan at 6:30 p.m. CT on Friday, followed by Southeast Missouri State and Grand Canyon on Saturday, Sept. 10. Click here to see the full tournament schedule. Friday's match against Western Michigan will be streamed live on ESPN3, as well as the Panther Sports Radio Network via 1540 KXEL.