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University of Northern Iowa
4-4,0-0MVC
Louisville
6-1,0-0ACC
UNI volleyball comes up short in loss at No. 4 Louisville
9/14/2024 2:41:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Panthers challenge Cardinals in first two sets but drop second consecutive contest in Kentucky. UNI closes out Cardinal Classic on Sunday vs. Rice.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. --- The UNI volleyball team tested fourth-ranked Louisville in the first two sets, but were unable to put a crack in the Cardinals' sturdy defensive wall on Saturday as the Panthers fell in straight sets in their second match of the Cardinal Classic at the KFC Yum! Center.
In a match that featured multiple service errors on both sides of the net, Northern Iowa pushed the Cardinals to the brink in narrow two-point wins in each of the first two frames, including an extended second set win, before falling in a tough third frame by ten points. The Panthers also struggled to match Louisville's blocking defense, being denied on 11 attacks at the net and being held to a .101 hitting percentage.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
The Panthers would give the Cardinals all they could handle in the opening set as UNI racked up a pair of service aces courtesy of Erin Powers and Sydney Golden, plus 17 team kills on .256 hitting. Using a 5-0 scoring run, Northern Iowa cut into Louisville's lead at 13-12 and hung with the Cardinals point-by-point to the end of the set, nearly forcing bonus ball in a narrow 25-23 opening frame loss. Cassidy Hartman led the purple and gold with five early terminations, with four kills each from Olivia Tjernagel and Lily Dykstra.
Northern Iowa pounced on the Cardinals early in the second stanza and led for the majority of the set thanks to high-level offensive action from Kacie Rewerts and Tjernagel at the net. The Panthers would stretch their lead to as many as three points on multiple occasions, but saw Louisville turn the tables late with reigning co-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Player of the Year Anna DeBeer and Charitie Liper leading the charge. Despite 14 team kills, ten attack errors and four service errors plagued the Panthers as the Cardinals rallied to take an extended set by a score of 27-25.
UNI would score the first three points of the third frame before Louisville stormed back with a resounding all-around effort. After tying the set up at 6-6, the Cardinals never looked back, using a pair of 4-0 runs and a 6-0 stretch late to halt the Panthers' momentum. With Northern Iowa being held to a negative hitting percentage with nine attack errors, Louisville scored nine of the final ten points of the match for a 25-15 set victory and the three set sweep.
Tjernagel finished the afternoon with 12 kills to tie her season-high for the third time this year. Hartman notched eight terminations along with seven digs on defense, while Dykstra also notched a season-high eight kills. Rewerts tallied four kills along with three blocks, as both Kaitlyn Sellner and Fallert each recorded three kills each. Golden led the Panthers with 18 assists, plus a pair of assists, with Reese Booth totaling 13 assists and seven digs, as Powers tallied 18 digs with two aces.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Saturday marked UNI's first loss to Louisville in volleyball after winning the previous four meetings, which included the previous matchup in the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
- Northern Iowa is now 25-88 all-time against teams ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's (AVCA) top-25 poll, and 7-40 against top-ten ranked opponents. UNI's last win over a top-ten and ranked challenger came against No. 5 Kentucky in 2018 in a tournament in Los Angeles.
- Kacie Rewerts is now just three block assists away from 500 in her career. The graduate transfer from Drake currently sits sixth on the Missouri Valley Confernece's (MVC) all-time list in block assists, looking to become the sixth player in league history to reach the milestone.
- Defensive specialist/libero Grace Mikota surpassed 300 career digs with her three digs recorded on Saturday.
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UP NEXT
UNI will wrap up play at the Cardinal Classic on Sunday morning against the Rice Owls. First serve is scheduled for 9 a.m. CT with live coverage available 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.
