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University of Northern Iowa
21-7,16-0MVC
Missouri State
11-17,5-11MVC
UNI volleyball sweeps Missouri State to open final road trip of the season
11/15/2024 8:11:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Panthers can clinch a share of the MVC regular season title tomorrow night with a win, or an outright championship with a win and a Drake loss.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. --- The UNI volleyball team cruised to its sixth straight win over the Missouri State Bears in straight sets on Friday night in its final regular season Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) matchup with the Bears to open up the final three-match road trip of the regular season.
After a slow start to the opening set, Northern Iowa cruised with 46 total team kills on .239 hitting and notched 11 total blocks in the win, extending its winning streak to 16 matches.
The Panthers, who improve to 16-0 in league play, are now on the brink of capturing at least a share of their third consecutive MVC regular season title. UNI can clinch at least a share of the conference crown tomorrow night with a win at Southern Illinois. Northern Iowa could also clinch the MVC title outright with a win and a Drake loss to Missouri State.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Panthers overcame three straight attack errors to open the match and held off a persistent Bears team that racked up a pair of early aces. UNI would tie the match at 7-7 thanks to a number of Missouri State errors, plus a service ace from Reese Booth before pulling away thanks to eight kills in the frame by Kira Fallert and another ace by Erin Powers. The Bears would tie the set up at 20-20 before the Panthers finished strong with an ace from Fallert and an ace from Cassidy Hartman, taking the frame by a score of 25-21.
Northern Iowa dominated the second stanza with an impressive nine block performance, including six blocks as part of the Panthers first eight points of the set. UNI totalled 17 kills on .441 hitting with just two attack errors while the Bears matched their kills and errors total with ten terminations on just .086 hitting. Olivia Tjernagel heated up at the net with four kills in the second set as UNI cruised to a 25-14 win and a two-set lead.
UNI grabbed an early lead in the third set but quickly saw the Bears storm back to tie the frame at 8-8. With Sydney Golden dishing out an ace and the Panther defense holding Missouri State to just six kills on .033 hitting, Northern Iowa quickly took back the lead and never looked back. Fallert paced the UNI offense with seven kills in the final frame, with Grace Miktoa and Booth both adding aces to the Panther totals in a 25-17 win to complete the three-set sweep.
Fallert led the night with a match-high 18 kills on 39 attempts and a .308 hitting clip with a pair of blocks. Kacie Rewerts totaled ten kills and five blocks in the Panther win, as Hartman tallied seven terminations, Tjernagel finishing with six kills and Kaitlyn Sellner posting five blocks and three kills. Golden recorded 24 assists with an ace, while Booth finished with 16 assists and one ace. Powers closed the night with a team-high 21 digs and one ace.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UNI improves to 60-28 all-time against Missouri State and 38-17 against the Bears under head coach Bobbi Petersen. The matchup was also the final regular season conference meeting between Northern Iowa and Missouri State ahead of MSU's planned move to Conference USA in 2025.
- Northern Iowa has now started 16-0 in MVC play in each of the last three seasons, as well as for the 11th time since 1995 (1995, 1998-00, 2009-11, 2022-24).
- The Panthers have now won 34 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 38 in a row overall against MVC opponents in the regular season and postseason.Â
- Kacie Rewerts has now recorded at least one block in 106 consecutive matches dating back to her career at Drake (2020-23), a streak that began on Nov. 5, 2021 in a match against Missouri State.
- Kira Fallert just two kills to pass Laura Rowen (2004-07) for eighth on UNI's all-time kills list.
- Fallert has now recorded double-digit kill totals in 22 matches this season, including in 14 of her last 16 matches.
- Olivia Tjernagel's six kills on Friday put her over 800 terminations for her career.
- Sydney Golden surpassed 700 career assists on Friday night with her 24 assist performance against the Bears.
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UP NEXT
The Panthers will battle the Southern Illinois Salukis tomorrow night in Carbondale, Illinois. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT at Davies Gym with live coverage available on ESPN+ and the Panthers Sports Radio Network.
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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.
