University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
20-7,15-0MVC
Valparaiso
15-12,7-8MVC
Panther volleyball blanks Valparaiso in regular season home finale
11/9/2024 8:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
UNI sweeps Beacons to move within two wins of an MVC regular season title. Panthers begin final three-match road trip of the season next weekend at Missouri State and Southern Illinois.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- The UNI volleyball team overcame an early test from the Valparaiso Beacons on Saturday night before rolling to a 3-0 win in the final match of the 2024 home schedule inside the McLeod Center.
Five Panthers recorded ten or more kills in Northern Iowa's latest three-set sweep, its 11th of the season. On a night where the Panthers honored seniors Olivia Tjernagel, Grace Mikota, Erin Powers, Kira Fallert and Kacie Rewerts, the Panthers racked up 55 team kills on .371 hitting with six service aces to improve to 15-0 in league play with three matches to play in the regular season.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Beacons presented an early challenge to the Panthers with their stellar backrow defense as both teams split the first 26 points to a 13-13 tie. Led by seven first set kills by Rewerts, four terminations by Lily Dykstra and three blocks by Kaitlyn Sellner, UNI opened up a healthy lead before Valapraiso roared back to take a 23-22 lead. The Panthers would rally back in the hotly contested set and pull away with a 25-23 win thanks to a .378 hitting clip and 19 team kills.
Valparaiso again grabbed an early lead on the Panthers in the second stanza before Northern Iowa stormed back, closing on an impressive 16-6 scoring run. Both Tjernagel and Cassidy Hartman put up five kills in the set, with Kira Fallert adding four terminations to her total and Mikota dishing out an assist in a 25-17 win. UNI totalled 20 kills on .364 hitting, while the Beacons hit .188 with ten kills.
Northern Iowa dominated the third set, racking up 16 kills with a .371 hitting clip while Valparaiso struggled with .067 hitting. The Panthers grabbed and early lead and never looked back, building a double-digit lead late in the frame. Fallert and Hartman both tallied four kills in the third set, while Powers dished out a pair of aces in an impressive 25-11 win.
Tjernagel finished with a match-high 11 kills with no attack errors along with one block assists, while Hartman also tallied 11 terminations on 26 attempts. Fallert posted a ten-kill match with eight digs alongside Dykstra and Rewerts, who both also recorded ten kills. Sydney Golden led with a match-high 26 assists with Reese Booth posting 17 assists and one ace. On defense, Powers finished with 17 digs and three aces.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UNI improves to 20-4 all-time against Valparaiso with its sixth consecutive win over the Beacons. The Panthers are also 14-4 against the Beacons under head coach Bobbi Petersen.
- With Saturday's win, the Panthers secured their third consecutive 20-win season, and 29th all-time in school history.
- Northern Iowa has now started 15-0 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 33 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 37 in a row overall against MVC opponents in the regular season and postseason.Â
- By virtue of UNI and Drake's two victories this weekend, the Panthers' magic number to clinch at least a share of the MVC regular season title is down to two. UNI's magic number to clinch the title outright sits at three.
- Erin Powers became the 21st player in team history to surpass 1,000 digs as a Panther on Saturday with her 17 dig performance. The Mukwonago, Wisconsin native previously recorded 1,090 digs during her two seasons at UAB (2021-22).
- Kacie Rewerts has now recorded at least one block in 105 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 has now recorded double-digit kill totals in 21 matches this season, including in 13 of her last 15 matches.
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UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action next weekend to kick off a three-match road trip to close out the regular season, starting next Friday, Nov. 15 at Missouri State at 6 p.m. CT, and Saturday, Nov. 16 at Southern Illinois at 5 p.m. CT. Live coverage of both matches can be found on ESPN+ and the Panthers 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.
