University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
16-7,11-0MVC
Indiana State
4-19,1-10MVC
UNI volleyball blanks Indiana State in homecoming sweep
10/26/2024 8:28:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Panthers win 11th straight match in 3-0 victory over the Sycamores. UNI visits Murray State, Belmont next weekend.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- The UNI volleyball team closed out the 2024 homecoming weekend in style on Saturday night as the Panthers rolled past the Indiana State Sycamores in straight sets to move to 11-0 in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play.
With a pair of Panthers tallying double-digit kill figures with an impressive effort on both offense and defense, Northern Iowa trailed just once during the three-set contest and cruised with a .311 team hitting percentage with 45 terminations and 14 total block assists.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Panthers faced an early challenge from the Sycamores in the first set, who came out swinging with 14 kills on .257 hitting. UNI would notch 17 terminations on .333 hitting with Kira Fallert leading the offensive charge with five early kills, along with four kills each by Cassidy Hartman and Olivia Tjernagel. Kacie Rewerts and Tjernagel would also team up for a pair of blocks with Reese Booth dishing out a service ace as Northern Iowa pulled away late from Indiana State for a 25-20 set win.
UNI jumped out to a quick lead in the second stanza, capitalizing on six Sycamore attack errors with a .419 hitting clip and 16 team kills. Hartman and Fallert each tallied four terminations in the set, with Fallert and Erin Powers each serving up an ace. The Panthers cruised to the finish line in the set with an 8-3 scoring run and grabbed a 25-13 win for a 2-0 match lead.
Northern Iowa's offense and defense continued to hum in the third frame, holding Indiana State to a .000 hitting percentage with seven kills and seven attack errors. UNI rattled off eight straight points to begin the third including an 11-1 scoring run to ice the Sycamores early in a set where the Panthers tallied 12 kills on .194 hitting in a dominant 25-13 win to complete the three-set sweep.
Fallert finished the night with a match-high 12 kills, plus four digs and one ace, while Hartman notched a double-double with ten kills and 11 digs. Rewerts posted six kills and six blocks in the Panther victory, with Kaitlyn Sellner tallying five kills and a pair of blocks. Booth led the match with 22 assists along with two aces as Sydney Golden recorded 20 assists. Powers ended the match with 18 digs and two aces.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UNI improves to 69-7 all-time against Indiana State with Saturday's win, its fourth straight against the Sycamores. The Panthers are also 43-5 against Indiana State under head coach Bobbi Petersen
- Northern Iowa has now started 11-0 in MVC play in each of the last three seasons, including four of the last seven years and for the tenth time since 1995.
- The Panthers have now won 29 consecutive regular season MVC matches dating back to last season's undefeated conference schedule, the fourth-longest league winning streak in team history. UNI has also won 33 in a row overall against MVC opponents in the regular season and postseason.Â
- Head coach Bobbi Petersen is now just one win shy of her 600th career victory, a milestone 57 other coaches have reached at the Division I women's level. Petersen is also looking to become the 17th active head coach to reach the milestone and 19th to do so at one institution.
- Defensive specialist/libero Erin Powers recorded the 2,000th dig of her collegiate career on Saturday. Notching 928 digs as a Panther, Powers recorded 1,090 digs during her first two collegiate seasons at UAB (2021-22).
- Cassidy Hartman's ten-kill, 11-dig double-double was her sixth of the season and her career.
- Kira Fallert has recorded double-digit kill figures in 18 matches this season, including ten of UNI's previous 11 contests.Â
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UP NEXT
The Panthers return to the road next weekend as they visit Murray State on Friday, Nov. 1 and Belmont on Saturday, Nov. 2. Live coverage of both matches can be found on ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network.
UNI volleyball action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Volleyball), X (@UNIVolleyball) and on Instagram (@univolleyball). The full 2024 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
