SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Volleyball Tournament championship match came down to the wire, and the UNI Panthers emerged on top, claiming the program’s 19th conference tournament title on Wednesday night with a 3-2 win over Drake.
Northern Iowa secures its 25th NCAA Tournament berth with the 3-2 victory over Drake, and extends its winning streak to 21 matches, tied for the eighth-longest streak in program history and fourth-longest under head coach Bobbi Petersen.
Setter Tayler Alden was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP), with libero Erin Powers and outside hitter Kira Fallert also earning All-Tournament honors.
The Panthers brought their defensive energy early in the match with four team blocks, as well as a pair of service aces against Drake’s high-powered offensive unit. The Bulldogs would out-digt UNI by three, but the Panther offense, led by seven kills from Fallert and three terminations each from Emily Holterhaus and Layanna Green sparked a 15 team kill set by Northern Iowa with a .333 hitting percentage, propelling UNI to a 25-19 first-set victory.
UNI for all but one point in the second set as the Panther middles stepped up on a .342 hitting frame for the purple and gold. With a service ace from both Powers and Alden in the second stanza, Northern Iowa staved off rallies by the Bulldogs who pulled within one point at 9-8 before pulling ahead thanks to an impressive performance from Green in the middle. Recording 17 team kills on 38 attempts with just four errors, the Panthers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the match with another 25-19 set victory.
The Panthers would start the third frame strong, scoring seven of the first nine points before Drake crawled back into contention. Drake would use a 6-0 run to tie the set up at 19-19 before taking a three-point lead itself. Terminations by Olivia Tjernagel, Alden and Fallert helped UNI climb back to tie the frame up at 23-23, but the Bulldogs would score on consecutive kills by Haley Bush and Taylor Oberpriller to cut the Northern Iowa deficit in half and take the third set, 25-23.
Wednesday’s fourth set went back-and-forth with each attack with 13 ties and six lead changes. With Drake’s backline digging out multiple Panther attacks, the Bulldogs took a four-point lead at 22-18 before UNI stormed back to pull within one, thanks to a service ace by Fallert. The Bulldogs would prevail however with a kill by Oberpriller and a Holterhaus error to win 25-23, and force Northern Iowa’s first five-set match since September 7.
The Panther defense came to life in the winner-take-all fifth stanza at the net and on the backline, grabbing a quick advantage on the Bulldogs with an errorless set. UNI pulled ahead 2-1 and didn’t look back, forcing seven Drake attack errors and closing on an 8-0 for a 15-6 win.
Fallert led the match with a 17-kill, 16-dig double-double, while Alden notched a 51-assist, 12-dig double-double with seven kills and three aces. Powers also recorded a double-double with a season-high 28 digs and ten assists. Holterhaus posted 14 kills with four blocks, as Green tallied 13 kills and eight blocks. Arndorfer and Tjernagel each posted nine-kill matches, combining for ten total blocks as a duo.
MVC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Tayler Alden, UNI (MVP)
Kira Fallert, UNI
Erin Powers, UNI
Taylor Oberpriller, Drake
Jada Wills, Drake
Martina Delucchi, UIC
Imani Hartfield, Southern Illinois
Deja Bickers, Missouri State
Brooke Gilleland, Belmont
Aida Shadewald, Illinois State
Mallory Januski, Valparaiso
In addition to three All-Tournament Team selections, Kira Fallert was also named the MVC Elite 17 Award winner, given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing in the championship round. Fallert’s selection is the fifth time a Panther has won the honor and first time a UNI student-athlete has won the award in consecutive years (Beth Discher, 2010 / Shelby Kintzel, 2011 / Inga Rotto, 2019)
ADDITIONAL NOTES
UNI’s win over Drake is their fourth straight since dropping its 2022 regular season finale to the Bulldogs. The Panthers improve to 91-16-2 all-time against the Bulldogs, and 6-1 against Drake in the MVC Tournament.
With the win, Northern Iowa is the 12th number one seed in the last 15 years to win the MVC Tournament.
The Panthers grabbed their 54th MVC Tournament match win, extending their own conference record.
UNI has now won 19 MVC Tournament crowns in program history, winning back-to-back titles for the first time since winning three straight in 2009-11 (1986-87, 1991, 1994-95, 1998-02, 2006-07, 2009-11, 2018, 2022-23).
Tayler Alden is the 13th different individual to be named MVC Tournament MVP, joining Chris Less (1991), Kara Galer (1994-95), Holly Van Hofwegen (1998), Alexandra Auker (1999-00), Molly O’Brien (2001, 2003), Kim Kester (2002), Kristen Belzung (2006), Shannon Aschoff (2007), Bre Payton (2009, 2011), Ellie Blakenship (2010), Piper Thomas (2018) and Olivia Tjernagel (2022).
UNI’s 18 blocks on Wednesday were a season-high, and most sinceSeason-high 18 blocks.
Tayler Alden became the seventh Panther in program history to surpass 4,000 career assists with her 51-assist performance, also passing Mary Bernhardty (1984-87) for seventh in school history.
Emily Holterhaus’ 14 kills against Drake move her into fourth on the program’s all-time kills list, passing current UNI head coach Bobbi (Becker) Petersen (1986-89).
Tayler Alden recorded her 42nd career double-double on Wednesday, while Fallert posted her 19th double-double of her career. Powers’ double-double was her second as a Panther.
UP NEXT
The Panthers will await their postseason fate with the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, November 26 at 5 p.m. CT on ESPN. Fans are welcome to join the team at Pepper’s Grill and Sports Pub for a watch party as the team learns its postseason matchup and location.
