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University of Northern Iowa
23-7,18-0MVC
Drake
20-9,16-2MVC
UNI volleyball shuts out Drake to claim outright MVC title
11/20/2024 8:32:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Panthers secure top seed for MVC Tournament with three-set sweep of in-state rival. UNI back in action on Monday in the tournament semifinals.
DES MOINES, Iowa --- UNI volleyball secured an outright Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) regular season title on Wednesday night with a 3-0 win over the Drake Bulldogs inside the Knapp Center.
In a battle of the league's top two teams, Northern Iowa completed the regular season sweep of the Bulldogs on a night where it posted 45 team kills on a .170 hitting percentage.
UNI has now recorded back-to-back undefeated seasons (36-0) in conference play, the 13th perfect conference season in MVC history and ninth such campaign in team history. The win also guarantees the Panthers the top seed for the MVC Tournament, which will begin this Saturday with opening round matches on Saturday.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
UNI and Drake split the first 20 points of the opening set before the Bulldogs rattled off a 4-0 scoring run to take its largest lead of the frame. With the Panthers hitting .225 with 16 total kills, Northern Iowa stormed back and tied the set at 16-16 and pulled ahead thanks to a strong opening frame by both Cassidy Hartman and Kacie Rewerts with five kills each and three from Olivia Tjernagel. Drake would crawl back to tie the set again at 23-23, but kills by Hartman and Lily Dykstra on consecutive points gave the Panthers the 25-23 set win and an early lead in the match.
Much like the first set, the second stanza opened with another narrow back-and-forth before Northern Iowa opened up some breathing room with a five-point lead. Four Panthers notched three or more kills, led by six terminations by Hartman and three each from Kira Fallert, Tjernagel and Dykstra. UNI would face a late push by the Bulldogs, who cut the Panther lead to one at 22-21, but finished strong in a set where it hit .310 with 18 kills in a 25-21 victory for a 2-0 match lead.
The Panthers kicked off the third set with a 5-0 scoring run in a set where UNI had to hold off a resurgent Bulldog team despite being held to just a .019 hitting clip and 11 kills and ten attack errors. Northern Iowa maintained a narrow lead through the set that featured a pair of back-to-back Grace Mikota service aces. Paced by five kills by Hartman and three from Rewerts, the Panthers held off Drake by a narrow two-point margin for a 25-23 win to complete the three-set sweep.
Hartman finished the night with a match-high 16 kills on 29 attacks, as Rewerts posted ten kills with five blocks. Tjernagel tallied seven kills and three blocks, while Dykstra finished with six kills and four blocks. Mikota recorded three aces in the victory, as Sydney Golden notched 22 assists and Reese Booth 16 assists. Erin Powers led the Panther backrow defense with a match-high 17 digs.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UNI improves to 93-16-2 all-time against Drake with its sixth consecutive win over the Bulldogs. The Panthers are also 49-4 against Drake under head coach Bobbi Petersen.
- In addition to completing their second straight undefeated conference schedule and 36 straight MVC regular season wins, the Panthers have also won 40 in a row overall against MVC opponents in the regular season and postseason.Â
- While having already captured a share of the MVC regular season title last weekend, the victory marks UNI's 22nd regular season championship and 12th under Bobbi Petersen.
- Northern Iowa remains the only team in Division I volleyball to start a match with the same lineup in every match this season (Hartman, Tjernagel, Fallert, Rewerts, Golden, Sellner, Powers).
- Kacie Rewerts has now recorded at least one block in 108 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.
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UP NEXT
UNI finishes the regular season with a 23-7 record and will be the top-seed in the MVC Tournament, which the Panthers will host Nov. 23-26 inside the McLeod Center. The Panthers will have a double-bye and will play in the first semifinal match on Monday, Nov. 25 at 3 p.m. CT against an opponent to be determined. Live coverage can be found on ESPN+ and the Panther 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.
