UNI volleyball set for pair of top-ten showdowns at Cardinal Classic

UNI volleyball (4-2 / 0-0 MVC) vs. No. 9 Creighton (5-1 / 0-0 Big East)

12 p.m. CT | Sept. 13, 2024
KFC Yum! Center (21,500)
Louisville, Ky.
ESPN+
Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
LIVE STATS

UNI volleyball (4-2 / 0-0 MVC) vs. No. 4 Louisville (5-1 / 0-0 ACC)

12:30 p.m. CT | Sept. 14, 2024
KFC Yum! Center (21,500)
Louisville, Ky.
ACC Network Extra
Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
LIVE STATS

UNI volleyball (4-2 / 0-0 MVC) vs. Rice (4-1 / 0-0 AAC)

9 a.m. CT | Sept. 15, 2024
KFC Yum! Center (21,500)
Louisville, Ky.
ESPN+
Panther Sports Radio Network (Chris Kleinhans-Schulz: Play-by-Play)
LIVE STATS

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- The UNI volleyball team will face its toughest tests of the 2024 non-conference schedule this weekend as the Panthers visit Louisville, Kentucky for the Cardinal Classic, hosted by the University of Louisville.

Beginning the first year of a new four-year rotating tournament, the Panthers will open this weekend's action at the KFC Yum! Center at 12 p.m. CT on Friday, Sept. 13 against No. 9 Creighton, before taking on No. 4 Louisville on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. CT. UNI will close out the tournament on Sunday against Rice at 9 a.m. CT. Northern Iowa's contests against Creighton and Rice will be streamed on ESPN+, while the Panthers and Cardinals match can be viewed on ACC Network Extra. All three matches will also be available on the Panther Sports Radio Network online, as well as 106.5 FM Corn Country, the official radio home of UNI women's athletics.

UNI is 25-86 all-time against opponents ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's (AVCA) top-25 poll, and will be in search of its first top-25 win since beating No. 5 Kentucky in 2018. Panther head coach Bobbi Petersen is also expected to make history this weekend as UNI's Sunday matchup with Rice will be her 800th match coached in her career and with the Panthers.

Six matches into the 2024 campaign, UNI has already shown progress in a number of statistical categories, including a 14.3 kills per set average, the 15th best mark in Division I volleyball. The Panthers are also top-35 nationally in team kills (330), team assists (299) and assists per set (13).

Northern Iowa's third and final non-conference tournament of the year comes after the Panthers picked up three straight victories last weekend in Grand Forks, North Dakota at the NDSU/UND Tournament, defeating SIU Edwardsville and West Virginia in four sets, as well as North Dakota in a straight set sweep. In UNI's three wins, senior outside hitter Kira Fallert notched her 23rd and 24th career double-doubles, while Cassidy Hartman notched her second and freshman Reese Booth her first.

Defensively, Kacie Rewerts moved to sixth on the Missouri Valley Conference's (MVC) all-time block assists list with 490, while defensive specialist/libero Erin Powers was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week after posting a perfect receiving percentage last weekend.

SCOUTING CREIGHTON
Set to reignite an old MVC rivalry, the Bluejays come to Louisville after falling at No. 5 Nebraska in five sets on Tuesday night. Creighton also picked up home wins over No. 20 USC and Kansas State last weekend.

Led by head coach Kirsten Bernthal Booth, mother of current UNI freshman setter Reese Booth, the Bluejays are the reigning champions of the Big East Conference. UNI leads the all-time series with Creighton, 42-15, but the Bluejays have been dominant since leaving the MVC, winning ten of the last 12 meetings, including the last six in a row.

The overwhelming favorites to repeat as Big East champions, the Bluejays are led by a pair of preseason all-conference selections in Norah Sis with four kills per set and Kendra Wait's 10.7 assists per frame, 18th most in Division I volleyball. As a team, Creighton ranks 17th nationally with 14.1 kills per set.

SCOUTING LOUISVILLE
Saturday's match against Louisville will be a family affair as UNI freshman defender Jadyn Petersen and head coach Bobbi Petersen takes on her twin sister Payton's fourth-ranked Cardinals, who reached the NCAA Elite Eight a season ago.

Picked to finish third in the newly expanded ACC, the Cardinals return home after three wins at the NKU Tournament, defeating South Dakota, Missouri and Northern Kentucky. UNI holds a 4-0 record against Louisville, preparing to match up for the first time since the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, which ended in a sweep for the purple and gold.

Led by a pair of Preseason All-ACC honorees in Anna DeBeer and Charitie Luper, Louisville boasts the nation's 15th best team hitting percentage at .286. The Cardinals are also a force at the net with 2.8 blocks per set, ranking in the top-25 in the country.

SCOUTING RICE
UNI will close out the Cardinal Classic against the Owls in the first meeting between the programs since 2002, a three-set Panther win. Rice comes to Louisville after wins over South Alabama and UNLV in its second of two home tournaments last weekend. The Owl's lone loss of 2024 so far has been a 3-0 defeat at home to No. 23 Baylor.

The Owls, who are in just their second year as a member of the American Athletic Conference, were voted to finish second in the AAC's west division in the league's annual preseason poll with defending champion SMU picked first.

Rice brings a stout defense to the Cardinal Classic with preseason all-conference libero Nia McCardell averaging 5.2 digs per set. Savannah Skopal leads the AAC and ranks 21st nationally with 10.7 assists per set, while Cindy Tchoungwa has posted 3.6 kills per frame.

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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