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University of Northern Iowa
Belmont
Panther volleyball makes first trip to Belmont, Murray State this weekend
10/18/2023 11:57:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
UNI opens the second half of the conference schedule with a two-match lead at the top of the league standings.
UNI volleyball (15-6 / 9-0 MVC) at Belmont (11-12 / 5-4 MVC)
- 6 p.m. CT | Oct. 20, 2023
- Nashville, Tenn. | Curb Event Center (5,085)
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Shulz: Play-by-Play)
UNI volleyball (15-6 / 9-0 MVC) at Murray State (12-6 / 6-3 MVC)
- 5 p.m. CT | Oct. 21, 2023
- Murray, Ky. | Racer Arena (5,500)
- ESPN+
- Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Shulz: Play-by-Play)
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI volleyball will open up the second half of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) schedule on Friday and Saturday as the Panthers head south to take on the Belmont Bruins and Murray State Racers.
This weekend's matches will be the first time the Panthers have visited Nashville and Murray in their program's history. UNI faced off against Belmont last year for the first time at home, while also having played Murray State at home in conference play once and again in 1989 in non-conference play.
UNI has won ten straight contests, including 26 of its last 27 MVC matches dating back to last season and holds a two-match lead on Drake for first-place in the league standings.
The Panthers travel to Tennessee and Kentucky after a short week following a thrilling four-set victory at Drake on Monday night in Des Moines. In a match of high-powered hitting and blocking defense, UNI emerged victorious thanks to a career night from Layanna Green, who notched career-highs in kills (16) and total blocks (7). Tayler Alden also notched her sixth career triple-double in the win with 12 kills, 43 assists and 12 digs, the first by an MVC player this season. Emily Holterhaus also helped pace the UNI attack with 15 terminations, while Kira Fallert recorded a team-high 16 digs. Erin Powers, the reigning MVC Defensive Player of the Week, recorded 15 digs.
Entering the weekend, the Panthers rank second in the nation with 13.6 assists per set, as well as third in kills per set (14.4). UNI is also 24th in Division I with a 16.3 digs per frame average and 35th in total kills (1,026).
Through 21 matches this season, Holterhaus leads UNI with 253 terminations (3.6 per set) and is just 26 kills away from becoming the sixth player in program history to reach 1,500 in her career. Middle blocker Olivia Tjernagel sits third in the MVC with 83 total blocks, including a team-best 12 solo stops at the net, while Green has recorded 50 blocks. Continuing her march towards 1,500 career digs, Powers leads the Panthers with 345 total digs (4.8 per set), while Alden has notched 705 assists (9.9 per set). Powers also leads UNI at the service line with 25 aces.
ÂBELMONT BRUINS
Returning home after a four-match road trip, Belmont sits in the middle of the MVC standings in sixth-place at the halfway point of the conference schedule. The Bruins won three of their first four league matches this season, but have since dropped three of four. In its most recent outings, Belmont fell to Illinois State in Normal in four sets last Friday night, but bounced back with a five-set victory at Bradley on Saturday. An attack-heavy team, the Bruins rank second nationally with 1,063 team assists and are third in the country with 1,125 total kills. Belmont also leads the MVC and ranks fourth in Division I with 3,135 attack attempts. Setter Kamryn Olson leads the Bruins with 810 total assists on the season, while Elizabeth Godfrey has dished out 33 service aces, third most in the league.
MURRAY STATE RACERS
Picked tenth in the MVC preseason poll, the Racers have been the surprise team of the 2023 season in the league, sitting in fourth at the midway point of conference play at 6-3. Murray State returns to Racer Arena after a 3-2 win at Bradley last Friday and a 3-0 loss at Illinois State last weekend. Despite the loss, the Racers have won four of their last five contests. A well rounded roster, Murray State ranks in the top-ten in three categories, including assists per set (13.0), kills per frame (14.1) and digs per set (17.0). Darci Metzger is second in the league with 4.41 kills a set, the 16th-best mark in the country, while setter Bailey DeMier is sixth in Division I with 11.1 assists per set. Dahlia Miller ranks seventh in the nation with 5.5 digs per frame.
