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University of Northern Iowa
0-1,0-0MVC
Villanova
1-0,0-0Big East
UNI volleyball drops five-set season opener to Villanova
8/25/2023 5:21:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Panthers battle in fifth set thriller, but come up short against the Wildcats. Face Milwaukee and Western Michigan on Saturday.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. --- UNI volleyball stormed back in the fifth set and held off eight match points, but ultimately came up short in its season-opening match on Friday afternoon against Villanova in the opener of the Western Michigan Tournament at University Arena.
Matching up with the Wildcats for the first time since 2002, the defending MVC regular season and tournament champions looked to open the 2022 season on the right foot, aiming for their 17th opening match win under head coach Bobbi Petersen.
ÂHOW IT HAPPENED
The Panthers built a six-point advantage and never looked back in the opening frame, notching a .323 hitting percentage to take an early 1-0 lead in the match. Paced by Kira Fallert on the attack, UNI held off a late Wildcat push down the stretch, featuring Layanna Green's first career kills and a pair of blocks from Tayler Alden in a 25-20 win.
UNI struggled out of the gate in the second stanza, but quickly found life on a 7-0 run that included Grace Mikota's first career service ace. Villanova would pull back in front on a 6-0 run of its own in a back-and-forth set, stretching its lead to as many as five points. The Panthers would stay within reach, tying the match at 15-15, but would drop the second frame, 25-20.
Carrying the back-and-forth momentum into the third set, the Panthers took off by scoring 15 of the final 20 points en route to a 25-15 win. Aided by a .348 hitting percentage and eight Villanova errors, Kaylissa Arndorfer and Fallert each notched three kills to pace the UNI attack with Alden dishing out nine assists in the frame, along with three digs from Erin Powers in her Panther debut.
Villanova would take its turn capitalizing on Panther errors in the fourth set, putting UNI behind by as many as seven points. The Panthers would manage to climb back and pull within two points midway through the frame, but the Wildcats would find momentum once again, finishing the stanza with a .222 hitting percentage, but scoring on eight UNI errors.
In the decisive fifth frame, UNI would struggle out of the gate, falling behind the Wildcats 14-8. The Panthers would find a late spark however and staved off five consecutive match points to tie the set at 14-14, before again extending the contest after a Fallert kill to tie at 15-15. Fallert would notch a service ace to give UNI its own match-point opportunity, but would be unable to capitalize, with the Panthers able to hold off one more Wildcat match point before dropping the final set, 19-17.
Fallert finished the match with a team-high 17 kills plus a pair of service aces, while Olivia Tjernagel recorded 12 terminations and ten a piece from Emily Holterhaus and Green. Tayler Alden dished out 49 assists. Powers posted a match-high 19 digs, while Tjernagel also recorded six blocks on the afternoon
ÂADDITIONAL NOTES
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Villanova's victory on Friday ties the all-time series record at one win a piece. The only other prior meeting came on Aug. 30, 2002 at the George Mason Invitational, which UNI won in straight sets.
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The Panthers are now 31-18 all-time in the first match of the season, and 16-8 in season-openers under head coach Bobbi Petersen.
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Emily Holterhaus moved into a tie with Alexandra Auker (1997-00) for seventh on the program's career attack attempts list with 3,752. Holterhaus also passed Bri Weber (2015-17) who sits in eighth on the list with 3,714 attack attempts.
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Three Panthers made their UNI debuts on Friday, with Erin Powers getting the start at libero. Calia Clubb also played in the second set, while Cassidy Hartman made her collegiate debut against Villanova, appearing in all five sets.
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UP NEXT
UNI returns to action on Saturday with a pair of matches to conclude the Western Michigan Tournament. The Panthers will face off with Milwaukee at 9 a.m. CT, followed by a matchup with the host Western Michigan Broncos at 5 p.m. CT. Both matches will be livestreamed on WMUBroncos.com, with radio coverage also available on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
