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University of Northern Iowa
North Dakota
Panther volleyball returns home for UNI Tournament
9/12/2023 2:19:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
UNI hosts North Dakota, Dayton and Northern Illinois in final matches of the non-conference schedule. Tickets available for purchase.
UNI volleyball (4-5) vs. North Dakota (3-6)
- 7 p.m. CT | Sept. 14, 2023
- Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
- ESPN+ (Eric Braley: Play-by-Play / Beth West: Analyst)
- Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Shulz: Play-by-Play)
UNI volleyball (4-5) vs. No. 25 Dayton (8-2)
- 7 p.m. CT | Sept. 15, 2023
- Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
- ESPN+ (Brad Wells: Play-by-Play / Beth West: Analyst)
- Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Shulz: Play-by-Play)
UNI volleyball (4-5) vs. Northern Illinois (1-8)
- 2 p.m. CT | Sept. 16, 2023
- Cedar Falls, Iowa | McLeod Center (6,650)
- ESPN+ (Eric Braley: Play-by-Play / Beth West: Analyst)
- Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Shulz: Play-by-Play)
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CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- After playing its first nine matches on the road this fall, UNI volleyball returns home to the McLeod Center for the first time this year, hosting the three-day, six-match UNI Tournament beginning Thursday night.
The Panthers will play the first of their 12 scheduled home matches this season against North Dakota at 7 p.m. CT on Thursday. UNI will face a challenge in its Friday night match against No. 25 Dayton, who entered the AVCA top-25 for the first time this season on Monday. The Panthers will close the tournament and the non-conference portion of the schedule at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday against Northern Illinois. All tournament matches will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats also available via the tournament hub website.
Tickets for all tournament matches can be purchased online at unipanthers.com/tickets, or by calling the UNI Athletics Ticket Office at 319-273-4849.
UNI volleyball merchandise will also be sold during the Panthers' home matches on the north deck of the McLeod Center. Only cash and checks will be accepted for purchases.
Returning home after a long road trip, the Panthers look to reignite momentum with league play set to begin next week, and to bounce back after a difficult performance at the Texas A&M Invitational last week in College Station. UNI scored a thrilling 3-2 victory over TCU to open last week's tournament, but struggled with attack and serving errors in three-set losses to both Texas A&M and Utah State over the weekend.
The Panthers hold a record of 156-46 (.772) since moving into the McLeod Center in November of 2006. UNI went a perfect 12-0 at home last season.
Outside hitter Kira Fallert led the Panthers in their win over TCU, recording the program's 31st 20-20 match with 20 kills and 23 digs, the first such match by a UNI player since Karlie Taylor in 2019. Fallert, who earned MVC Offensive Player of the Week honors a week ago, leads UNI with 114 kills on the season.
Emily Holterhaus, who cracked the program's top-ten all-time list in terminations, will attempt to move up the list once again this weekend, 34 kills aways from passing Alexandra Auker (1997-00) for eighth in program history. Holterhaus, who has appeared in 132 career matches, will also continue her march towards Karlie Taylor's (2016-19) program attack attempts record, currenting sitting in second with 3,996 attempts on the brink of becoming only the second Panther ever to reach 4,000 attacks.
NORTH DAKOTA FIGHTING HAWKS
The Panthers are 17-6 in home openers under head coach Bobbi Petersen and will put that record to the test in Thursday night's match against North Dakota. UND took home wins in two of its three matches at home in the UND Classic last weekend, knocking off Green Bay and Montana in Grand Forks. The Fighting Hawks, who were picked fifth in the Summit League's preseason poll after a 12-18 season a year ago, started the season 0-3 before winning their first match of the year against Grambling State at the ACU Tournament in Abilene, Texas. Paige Barber leads the North Dakota offense with 88 terminations and ten service aces, while Izzie McCormick has notched 87 digs through nine matches. Marissa Stockman leads the Fighting Hawks with 30 blocks. UNI leads the all-time series, 5-1.
DAYTON FLYERS
UNI will attempt to earn its first win over a top-25 opponent on Friday night against the 25th ranked Flyers to round out day two of the UNI Tournament. The Panthers lost their only other top-25 match of the season on Sept. 3 to then-No. 20 Creighton, and will attempt to win its first match against a ranked opponent since 2018 against then-No. 5 Kentucky. Dayton comes to town after victories over UIC, Wright State and Ball State at home last weekend, with its only two losses coming in closely contested matches against No. 2 Louisville and No. 12 Marquette. Picked second in the Atlantic-10 Conference preseason poll behind Loyola-Chicago, the Flyers narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament a year ago and feature the league's top two blockers in Amelia Moore and Alayna Yates. Lexie Almodovar meanwhile ranks sixth nationally in kills for Dayton (121) and seventh in attacks (316).
NORTHERN ILLINOIS HUSKIES
With the Panthers in solid command of the all-time series (14-4), UNI will look to close out its home tournament in search of a third straight win against Northern Illinois. The Huskies, who finished last season 17-11 and were picked fifth in the Mid-American Conference's west division preseason poll, have struggled out of the gate to a 1-8 start. NIU's lone win came on Sept. 1 against UNC-Wilmington in five sets. Despite the tough start, the Huskies bring talent to the floor with Crew Hoffmeier ranking third in all of Division I volleyball with 154 digs, while Nikolette Nedic has notched 126 terminations for NIU. Sophie Hurt has dished out nine aces in nine matches, with Charlie Atiemo blocking 32 attacks.
