SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — UNI volleyball overcame a five-point second-set deficit and staved off a pair of set points to advance to its 27th Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Tournament title match on Tuesday in the program’s 1,200th all-time win on Tuesday with a 3-0 sweep of the Southern Illinois Salukis at the Hammons Student Center.
The Panthers, who are riding a 20-match winning streak, have won 15 consecutive matches against SIU, snapping the Salukis’ eight-match winning streak, the second-longest active stretch in the league. Northern Iowa now sits just one victory shy of securing its second consecutive automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Southern Illinois presented an early challenge defensively by digging out Panther attacks from the opening serve, matching UNI point-for-point. Tied at 12-12, the Panthers opened up some breathing room with a 6-0 run on kills by Kaylissa Arndorfer, Kira Fallert and Olivia Tjernagel as part of an 18-kill set for Northern Iowa on .400 hitting and three blocks in a 25-17 win while forcing six attack errors.
The Panthers would fall behind early in the second stanza as the Salukis opened up a four-point advantage as UNI struggled with multiple attacks going long out of bounds. Northern Iowa gradually climbed back into the set after trailing 18-13 with 17 of the final 19 points on the court being scored on terminations. With a kill by Emily Holterhaus and an SIU errors, the Panthers staved off the first of two set points to force bonus ball, with Fallert notching consecutive terminations to clinch a back-and-forth second set, 27-25.
Tuesday’s third set opened much like the previous two as both teams traded points. After splitting the first 20 points in a 10-10 tie, UNI took the lead for good, scoring three straight points on consecutive Saluki errors. Holding SIU to ten team kills with seven attack errors on .103 hitting, Northern Iowa finished the afternoon strong scoring five of the final six points for a 25-19 win on 14 kills and .312 hitting.
Fallert led the match with 18 kills as Tjernagel notched 11 kills and a season-high eight blocks. Holterhaus tallied ten terminations, while Arndorfer posted a nine-kill and season-best eight-block performance. Tayler Alden recorded a 41-assist, ten-dig double-double in the win, as Erin Powers anchored the Panther backline with 16 digs.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
UNI improves to 67-13 all-time with its win over Southern Illinois on Tuesday. The Panthers are 5-3 against the Salukis in the MVC Tournament.
Northern Iowa’s win on Tuesday was its 53rd all-time victory in the MVC Tournament, extending its own conference record.
The Panthers are 6-2 in sets that go beyond 25 points following a 27-25 second set victory on Tuesday.
Tayler Alden is 25 assists shy of becoming the seventh player in UNI history to record 4,000 career assists. Alden can also pass Mary Bernhard (1984-97) for seventh on UNI’s all-time assists list in her next outing.
Alden recorded her sixth double-double of the season and 41st of her career on Tuesday, the most among active Panthers.
Emily Holterhaus surpassed 1,600 career kills against SIU, becoming the fifth Panther in school history to do so. The Pella, Iowa native can pass her head coach Bobbi [Becker] Petersen (1986-89) for fourth on UNI’s all-time kills list with her next five terminations.
UP NEXT
The Panthers will take on the winner of Drake and UIC in Wednesday’s championship match at 4 p.m. CT for the MVC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Live coverage will be available on ESPN+ and on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
