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University of Northern Iowa
21-6,15-0MVC
Evansville
8-19,3-12MVC
UNI volleyball honors seniors with home sweep of Evansville
11/4/2023 8:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Panther defense notches ten team blocks and holds Purple Aces to negative hitting percentage. UNI visits UIC, Valparaiso next weekend.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI volleyball shut down the high-powered offense of Evansville and rolled to its 16th consecutive win on Saturday night, scoring a three-set sweep of the Purple Aces inside the McLeod Center as the Panthers celebrated Military Appreciation and Senior Night in front of their home crowd.
Northern Iowa continues its hot stretch of play with 32 victories in its last 33 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) outings and 17 straight home wins against league opponents heading into the final three matches of the 2023 regular season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Following a difficult blocking night on Friday against Indiana State, the Panther defense at the net stepped up with an impressive six-block first set, helping slow down the Purple Aces and the MVC's leading attacker Giulia Cardona. The Panthers used a key 7-0 run early in the first stanza to take the lead and wouldn't look back as Kira Fallert recorded five terminations with three blocks, while Kaylissa Arndorfer notched three kills. Evansville struggled to find offensive consistency with ten attack errors, while UNI racked up 12 kills on .360 hitting in a 25-12 first set victory.
Northern Iowa would have to overcome Cardona's rocket speed on the service line early in the second set before settling into a rhythm offensively. Tied at 9-9, UNI scored eight straight points to nearly double its lead as the Purple Aces continued to struggle with attack errors. Megan Witte got in on the action on offense with a pair of kills late in the second set as Fallert and Arndorfer continued to push the tempo of the UNI attack in a 25-13 set win, highlighted by 17 team kills on .351 hitting.
The Panthers offense continued to roll with another 12 team kills on .276 hitting in the third stanza, taking advantage of a key 6-0 run to put the Purple Aces into an early hole. Erin Powers would notch a critical service ace as Evansville's struggles offensively continued with attacks going long out-of-bound and going outside the antenna boundaries. A late 4-0 UNI run would help seal the deal for the purple and gold as Northern Iowa secured the third set, 25-13 to complete the three set sweep.
Fallert led the match with 14 terminations and 13 digs with a season-high four blocks, registering her third consecutive double-double performance. Alden also notched a double-double with 30 assists and ten digs, while Arndorfer posted a seven-kill match with three block assists. Emily Holterhaus tallied six kills, as Olivia Tjernagel recorded a four-kill outing with four block assists.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Following Saturday's win, UNI honored their four senior players in Tayler Alden, Kaylissa Arndorfer, Emily Holterhaus and Megan Witte.
- UNI improves to 59-3 all-time against the Purple Aces with the win, and 27-1 against Evansville at home.
- With their victory tonight at home and a Drake win over Indiana State on Saturday, the Panthers' magic number to clinch a second consecutive MVC regular season title sits at two.
- Northern Iowa has recorded 11 three-set sweeps in league play this year. At 15-0 in MVC play, the Panthers' other four conference wins this season have come in four sets (UIC, Drake, Murray State, Indiana State).
- The Panthers are 15-0 in MVC play for the ninth time in program history (1995, 1998-00, 2009-11, 2022). In each of the prior eight instances, UNI went on to win the MVC's regular season title, including seven outright championships.
- UNI remains undefeated in the first set against MVC opponents this year after a 25-12 opening frame win on Saturday. The Panthers have also clinched the first set in all 21 of their wins this year.
- After recording 14 attack attempts against Evansville, Emily Holterhaus is now 27 attempts shy of breaking Karlie Taylor's program record of 4,599 career attacks.
- Holterhaus appeared in her 150th career match on Saturday, having never missed a single match in her Panther career. She joins her former teammate Inga Rotto as the only two players in school history to appear in 150 or more matches.
- Tayler Alden's double-double against Evansville was her sixth of the season and 39th of her career, the most among active Panthers. Kira Fallert's double-double performance was her ninth of the year and 18th of her career.
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UP NEXT
UNI hits the road next Friday to begin a brief two-match road trip, taking on the UIC Flames on Nov. 10 at 4 p.m. CT at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago. The Panthers will also face off with the Valparaiso Beacons on Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. CT in northwest Indiana in their final regular season road contest of the year. Coverage of both matches will be available on both ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network.
