University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
4-2,0-0MVC
West Virginia
3-2,0-0Big 12
Panther volleyball surges in final sets in win over Mountaineers
9/7/2024 8:50:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
UNI dominates third and fourth sets to finish weekend 3-0 in North Dakota. Panthers head to Kentucky next week.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. --- Three Panthers tallied double-doubles on Saturday night as the UNI volleyball team dominated the final two sets as part of a 3-1 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers in its final match of the NDSU/UND Tournament at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
Rallying after a slow start in the first frame, Northern Iowa narrowly edged West Virginia in the second and cruised in the third and fourth frames for a four-set victory to finish the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record with victories over SIU Edwardsville, North Dakota and West Virginia to improve to 4-2Â on the season after dropping two of its first three matches of the season last week in Dayton, Ohio.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
In an opening set that featured ten ties and three lead changes, West Virginia grabbed an early lead on a 4-0 scoring spurt, but the Panthers would gradually chip away at the Mountaineer lead after trailing by as many as four points. Hitting .212 as a team with 18 kills, Kira Fallert racked up eight terminations with five kills from Cassidy Hartman, tying the set up at 19-19 on Reese Booth's first career service ace. UNI faced two set points of its own but couldn't finish the set out as West Virginia rallied late for a 29-27 win.
The Panthers jumped out to a quick start in the second stanza thanks to a 9-4 run out of the gate. Hartman contributed an impressive eight kills in the second set, helping hold off a resilient Mountaineer squad, who rallied to force bonus ball for a second consecutive set with very few errors. Hitting .400 with 23 terminations, the Panthers prevailed in the extended set for a 26-24 set victory to tie the match up at one set a piece.
UNI's offense clicked with one of its most productive sets of the young season in the third frame with 15 kills on .371 hitting, leading the set from start to finish. With Hartman and Fallert both reaching double-double stat figures and a pair of aces from Booth, Northern Iowa built an impressive ten-point lead and put up a wall defensively with Fallert, Kacie Rewerts, Kaitlyn Sellner and Calia Clubb establishing a strong block presence. Holding WVU to just .171 hitting, the Panthers cruised to a 25-15 set win for a two set to one advantage.
The Northern Iowa offense continued to dominate in the fourth frame with another strong performance on offense, hitting .400 with 13 kills, as well as three blocks for a second consecutive set. With Clubb helping pace the Panthers, UNI surged into the lead after a 6-6 tie and never looked back, boosting its match hitting percentage to north of .320 with another double-digit lead en route to a 25-12 win and four set match victory.
Fallert finished with a season-high 21-kill, 17-dig double-double with a pair of blocks, with Hartman recording 18 kills, 12 digs and one block in her second double-double of her career. Booth posted career-best totals in assists (28) and digs (10) for her first career double-double. Clubb notched a UNI career-best nine terminations, with Olivia Tjernagel tallying eight kills and three blocks as Rewerts totalled six kills and three blocks. Sellner finished the night with four blocks to complement five kills, with Sydney Golden recording 26 assists and Erin Powers posting 20 digs and eight assists.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Saturday was the first all-time meeting between UNI and West Virginia in volleyball. The Panthers also improve to 19-26 (.422) against current members of the Big 12 Conference.
- Kira Fallert's double-double was her 24th of her career, and her fourth in the last five matches for the Panthers.
- Kacie Rewerts moved to sixth on the Missouri Valley Conference's (MVC) all-time block assists list with her 490th block assist, passing former Panther Shari Vermeer (2001-04).
- Erin Powers has now recorded a service ace in eight consecutive matches dating backÂ
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UP NEXT
UNI returns to action next weekend as it travels to Kentucky for the Cardinal Classic, hosted by Louisville. The Panthers will open the tournament against No. 11 Creighton on Friday, Sept. 13 at 12 p.m. CT at the KFC Yum! Center, with live coverage available on ESPN+ and the Panther 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.
