Panther volleyball to square off with Illinois in NCAA Tournament on Friday

UNI volleyball (25-7 / 18-0 MVC) vs. Illinois (18-12 / 10-10 Big Ten) (NCAA Tournament First Round)

3 p.m. CT | Dec. 6, 2024
KFC Yum! Center (21,500)
Louisville, Ky.
ESPN+ (Jeff Milby: Play-by-Play / Stephanie Cantway: Analyst)
Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play / Jay Grassley: Analyst)
LIVE STATS

UNI volleyball (25-7 / 18-0 MVC) vs. TBD (NCAA Tournament Second Round)

5 p.m. CT | Dec. 7, 2024
KFC Yum! Center (21,500)
Louisville, Ky.
ESPN+ (Jeff Milby: Play-by-Play / Stephanie Cantway: Analyst)
Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play / Jay Grassley: Analyst)
LIVE STATS

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- UNI volleyball will make its 26th NCAA Tournament beginning Friday afternoon as the three-time defending Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) regular season and tournament champions opening up competition against the Illinois Fighting Illini in the opening round at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.

First serve between the Panthers and Illini is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT on Friday, Dec. 6 with live coverage available on ESPN+, as well as the Panther Sports Radio Network with Chris Kleinhans-Schulz and Jay Grassley on the call.

Should UNI win its first round match on Friday, the Panthers would face top-seeded Louisville or Chicago State in the second round on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 5 p.m. CT.

Panther fans in Louisville are also invited to a pregame social from 1 to 3 p.m. ET at Nic & Norman's Louisville on Friday.

Northern Iowa, seeded eighth in the Louisville quarter of the bracket, is making its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance after capturing the MVC's automatic qualifying spot as conference tournament champions, sweeping Illinois State in last week's semifinal and rallying with an improbable fourth-set comeback to defeat UIC in four sets inside the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls. UNI holds a 16-25 all-time record in NCAA Tournament matches, with its last win coming in 2022 in the first round against Florida State in Minneapolis.

The Panthers, riding the nation's third-longest active winning streak at 20 straight matches, completed a perfect 18-0 conference season for a second straight year for a combined 36-0 record in league play, the fourth-longest regular season conference win streak in program history. UNI has also won 42 in a row against MVC challengers in both regular season and postseason play, a streak dating back to the start of the 2022 MVC Tournament at Evansville.

UNI was recognized for its stellar season, which saw them only drop six sets throughout the entirety of conference play in the regular season and postseason. Outside hitter Kira Fallert was named Co-MVC Player of the Year, while Erin Powers earned Co-MVC Libero of the Year honors and head coach Bobbi Petersen picking up her record ninth MVC Coach of the Year award, including her third straight. Fallert and Powers joined Kacie Rewerts and Olivia Tjernagel as UNI's four First Team All-MVC selections, while Cassidy Hartman and Lily Dykstra were named Second Team All-MVC.

At the conclusion of the MVC Tournament, Rewerts was named the most valuable player of the conference championship, with Fallert and Tjernagel joining her in receiving all-tournament honors. Academically, Fallert on Tuesday was named the MVC's Scholar-Athlete of the Year in addition to her third straight MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team honor and MVC Elite 18 Award. Rewerts was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team.

Northern Iowa enters the NCAA Tournament boasting a 14.7 kills per set average to lead all of Division I volleyball. The Panthers are also second in the nation with 13.6 assists per set and tenth in opponent hitting percentage (.152).

Fallert leads the UNI offense with 407 total kills through 32 matches, with Hartman close behind with 363 terminations. Powers's 43 service aces leads the way for the Panthers while her 533 total digs this year are fifth-most in the MVC this year. Notably, Powers is also the first Panther since Jill Arganbright and Michelle Burvee in 2001 and 2002 respectively to record 40+ aces in consecutive seasons, and first individual to do so since Kate Marovich's 55 and 41 ace seasons in 1995 and 1996.

Setters Sydney Golden and Reese Booth have split time on the court with the veteran Golden averaging 6.6 assists per set, with Booth notching 4.9 assists per frame, while Rewerts is first in the MVC with 1.3 blocks per set. Rewerts, who is third in MVC history with 599 career block assists, is the NCAA's active career leader in total blocks (680) across all divisions, and is also fifth in Division I with 1.35 blocks per set in her career.

Notably, UNI has also run the starting lineup of Hartman, Tjernagel, Fallert, Rewerts, Golden, Kaitlyn Sellner and Powers in 31 of 32 matches this season.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS
The Fighting Illini return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021 after an 18-13 season and tenth place finish in the Big Ten with a 10-10 mark. Illinois previously reached the Sweet Sixteen in 2021, as well as the Elite Eight in 2018.

Led by eighth year head coach Chris Tamas, the Illini faced a number of tests throughout the season, which included a five-set win over No. 20 USC at home. Illinois enters this year's tournament having dropped its last three matches to UCLA, Minnesota and Indiana.

The Illini rank second in the Big Ten with 1.6 service aces per set, but have struggled in the backrow with 12.2 digs per frame, second-fewest in the conference.

Raina Terry led the Big Ten with 5.27 points per set, as well as the Illinois offense with 4.4 kills per frame. Averie Hernandez posted 2.5 kills per set this year, while Ashlyn Philplot notched 1.1 blocks per frame at the net.

Illinois leads the all-time series 3-0-1 and won the only postseason matchup between the two programs in the opening round of the 1986 NCAA Tournament, when the Panthers made their official tournament debut as a Division I team.

2024 NCAA TOURNAMENT (Louisville Subregional)

First Round (Friday, Dec. 6)

Match 1 - #8 UNI vs. Illinois - 3 p.m. CT (ESPN+)
Match 2 - #1 Louisville vs. Chicago State - 6 p.m. CT (ESPN+)

Second Round (Saturday, Dec. 7)

Match 3 - Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner - 5 p.m. CT (ESPN+)

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.

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