Panther volleyball sweeps Milwaukee for first win

Saturday, August 26

Kalamazoo, Mich.

9 a.m.

University of Northern Iowa

1-1,0-0MVC

Milwaukee

0-2,0-0Horizon

UNI

Milwaukee

VB: Purple & Gold Scrimmage Aug. 13, 2023

Photo by: Joshua Dinkelman

Panther volleyball sweeps Milwaukee for first win

8/26/2023 11:26:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score FINAL RESULTS

Two Panthers make collegiate debuts as UNI improves to 8-2 against Milwaukee. Battles Western Michigan later this afternoon.

KALAMAZOO, Mich. --- UNI volleyball bounced back from a tough season-opening loss on Friday afternoon with their first victory of the 2023 season on Saturday morning, sweeping the Milwaukee Panthers in straight sets at Western Michigan's University Arena.

In the first meeting between the programs since 2005, UNI earned its eighth consecutive win over Milwaukee to even its record at 1-1 heading into its final match of the Western Michigan Tournament later this afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED
It took a late push for UNI to overcome a persistent Milwaukee lineup in the first set as the Panthers traded points and the lead with their counterparts for much of the opening frame. Trailing 18-16, UNI scored four consecutive points thanks to a pair of Milwaukee errors, as well as a service ace from Layanna Green and kill from Kira Fallert to take a two-point advantage. Overcoming a number of attack errors throughout the set, UNI held off a Milwaukee rally to take the opening stanza, 25-22.

Milwaukee jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead in the second frame before UNI responded with a 6-2 run to close the gap, capitalizing on opposing errors and kills from Olivia Tjernagel and Fallert, as well as Lily Dykstra in her collegiate debut. After tying the set at 14-14, UNI and Milwaukee swapped the next ten points before the Panthers scored four straight, which included a service ace from Alivia Bronner, also making her collegiate debut. With a team hitting percentage of .300, UNI was able to slam the door on Milwaukee and take the set, 25-23.

UNI's offense set the tone in the third frame building a quick 9-3 lead on a 6-0 run. The Panthers would double up Milwaukee at 16-8 on the backs of 18 team kills in the set, but would have to hold off the opposition late after an 8-3 run down the stretch. UNI would close strong however, scoring its final three points on kills by Emily Holterhaus and Green, and an opposing attack error, securing a 25-20 set win and victory for UNI.

Tjernagel finished the morning with a match-high 11 kills and five block assists, while Holterhaus, Fallert and Dykstra each recorded nine kills in the win. Alden dished out 27 assists for the Panthers with Sydney Golden recording a career-high 12 assists in her season debut, as libero Erin Powers led UNI with a pair of service aces and 17 digs. Bronner finished the match with 11 digs on defense.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

UNI improves to 8-2 all-time against Milwaukee, and 5-0 under head coach Bobbi Petersen. The Panthers have not lost to Milwaukee since the first two meetings of the series in 1984.
Emily Holterhaus moved into sixth on the program's all-time career attack attempts list with 3,771, passing her current head coach Bobbi (Becker) Petersen in the process. Holterhaus is only two attempts from moving ahead of Lauren Rowen's (2004-07) mark for fifth all-time.
Tayler Alden is now just 39 assists away from passing Rachel Koop (2015-19) for ninth on UNI's all-time list. She is also 82 assists away from becoming only the eighth player in school history to reach 3,000 in her career.
Two Panthers made their collegiate debuts on Saturday morning in Alivia Bronner and Lily Dykstra. After making her collegiate debut on Friday, Cassidy Hartman got her first career start against Milwaukee.

UP NEXT
UNI returns to the court later this afternoon to take on tournament host Western Michigan. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT, with a live stream available on WMUBroncos.com, with radio coverage also available on the Panther Sports Radio Network.