Panther volleyball opens home schedule hosting UNI Tournament

UNI volleyball vs. Western Michigan (UNI Tournament)

6:30 p.m. CT | Sept. 9
Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
ESPN3
1540 KXEL (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
Live Stats

UNI volleyball vs. SEMO (UNI Tournament)

12 p.m. CT | Sept. 10
Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
ESPN+
1540 KXEL (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
Live Stats

UNI volleyball vs. Grand Canyon (UNI Tournament)

7 p.m. CT | Sept. 10
Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
ESPN3
UNIpanthers.com (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
Live Stats

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI volleyball returns home for the first time in 2022 as the Panthers host the UNI Tournament Sept. 9-10 at the McLeod Center. The Panthers welcome a trio of competition to town in the Western Michigan Broncos, Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) Redhawks and Grand Canyon Antelopes in UNI's first home tournament since 2019.

Fans are encouraged to wear gold for Friday's match against Western Michigan. The Panthers will also be signing posters following Saturday's match vs. SEMO and celebrate their camper reunion throughout the day.

UNI looks to bounce back after being challenged by three top-25 opponents on the road at the Bluejay Invitational last weekend in Omaha. The Panthers were able to hand No. 25 USC its first set loss of the season, but ultimately fell to the Trojans in four sets, before being swept by the defending SEC champion Wildcats of Kentucky. UNI made a late rally in the third set last Saturday night against No. 17 Creighton, but fell just short in its comeback attempt, falling in straight sets to the Bluejays. With 20 kills on a .394 hitting percentage and 12 total blocks over the weekend, senior middle blocker Carly Spies was named to the Bluejay Invitational's All-Tournament Team.

Junior outside hitter Emily Holterhaus currently leads the Panthers with 67 total kills on the season, averaging 3.05 kills per set through 6 matches. Middle blocker Inga Rotto has notched 50 kills to start the year, while sophomore Kira Fallert has recorded 46 kills. Veteran setter Tayler Alden has totaled 205 assists, while Spies leads UNI with 8 service aces and 23 total blocks, to go along with 50 total kills. Sydney Petersen anchors the Panther defense with a team-high 85 digs.

WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS

Coming to Cedar Falls with a 4-2 record, the Broncos enter the UNI Tournament after a pair of home wins against North Dakota and Indiana State last weekend in Kalamazoo.
The Panthers are 4-0 against Western Michigan heading into Friday night's home opener. UNI's last matchup with the Broncos came during the Panthers' 2007 home opener in a 3-0 sweep.
WMU setter Logan Case leads the nation entering Friday's match with 12.2 assists per game.
UNI is 12-10 under head coach Bobbi Petersen (1997, 2001-pres.) in home opening matches. The Panthers look to snap a four-match losing streak in home openers on Friday against the Broncos.
Under Bobbi Petersen, the Panthers are 60-9 against opponents from the Mid-American Conference (MAC).

SEMO REDHAWKS

SEMO makes its first trip to Cedar Falls to open UNI's Saturday slate. The Panthers are 2-1 all-time against the Redhawks, with all previous matchups occurring on neutral floors.
SEMO has split its first six matches this season, coming off a pair of losses to Illinois State and Green Bay last weekend in Normal, Ill.
Redhawks Libero Tara Beilsmith ranks 13th in the nation and 1st in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) with 5.3 digs per set this season.
The reigning co-regular season and tournament champions in the OVC, the Redhawks reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago with a 26-8 record, falling to Kentucky in the opening round.

GRAND CANYON ANTELOPES

Saturday's UNI Tournament finale between the Panthers and Antelopes will be the first meeting between the programs. UNI is 155-71-7 all-time when facing an opponent for the first time.
Grand Canyon comes to town with the best record in the tournament field at 5-1, having recently won their home tournament last weekend with wins over Idaho, Wyoming and Santa Clara.
UNI is 9-2 all-time against opponents from the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
GCU outside hitter Mackenzie Wise has recorded 15 service aces this season for GCU, posting the 18th best ace per set average in the nation (0.9).
With a 19-7 record and 9-5 mark in league play last season, the Antelopes made a strong run to the WAC Tournament final as a five-seed before falling to Utah Valley.

PANTHER NOTES

UNI is 158-50 (.759) in matches played at the McLeod Center since the building opened in Nov. 2006.
The Panthers are 4-for-6 (.667) in video replay challenges this season.
Tayler Alden leads active UNI players with 22 career double-doubles, with Emily Holterhaus having recorded 21 in her career. Kira Fallert is the most recent Panther to record a double-double, notching her 6th career double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs against Arizona State.
Inga Rotto has appeared in 128 career matches for UNI, 9 matches shy of joining the top-10 list in program history. Rotto is currently on pace to set the school record for most career matches played, which is currently held by Jill Arganbright, Molly O'Brien (2000-03), Piper Thomas and Kendall Sorge (2015-18) at 138 matches.
Emily Holterhaus has appeared in 94 consecutive matches since the start of her collegiate career in 2019.
Baylee Petersen is 38 digs away from reaching 900 in her career.
With 88 career service aces, Sydney Petersen is 12 aces away from 1,000 in her career. The Panther libero notched 82 aces from 2018-21 at Texas.

For tickets for upcoming matches, visit UNIPanthers.com/tickets, or call the UNI Ticket Office at 319-273-4849.

PARKING NOTICE
Due to road construction on West 27th Street, spectators are encouraged to access the parking lots via West 22nd Street just north of the Wellness-Recreation Center and the UNI-Dome. Fans should also be advised of an increase in traffic due to Cedar Falls High School football on Friday night.

Calendar

Upcoming Events