CEDAR FALLS – UNI volleyball made quick work of the Evansville Purple Aces on Friday night to kick off its 2024 homecoming and 50th anniversary reunion weekend with a three-set sweep in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) action.
The back-to-back defending MVC regular season and tournament champions cruised through the first two sets and battled a resilient Purple Aces squad led by reigning conference player of the year Giulia Cardona in just 76 minutes to improve to 10-0 in league play for a third consecutive season. Northern Iowa notched a team hitting percentage of .344 with 41 total kills and a season-low ten attack errors, while holding Evansville to just 15 kills and a -.507 hitting clip.
The Panthers led from start to finish in the opening set, building a quick 9-1 lead thanks to five early terminations from Lily Dykstra and four kills each from Kacie Rewerts and Kira Fallert. UNI racked up 17 kills in the first frame on .395 hitting with a pair of blocks, as well as service aces from Grace Mikota, Reese Booth and Erin Powers. With Evansville hitting just .031 with six kills, Northern Iowa rolled to a 25-9 set win.
UNI jumped out to another quick lead in the second stanza on a 6-0 and never looked back with ten total kills in the set and a .333 hitting clip. Sydney Golden dished out a pair of aces as Evansville struggled to keep the ball in play with nine attack errors and a -.207 hitting percentage. With the Panther blocking defense stepping up with six total blocks, UNI rolled to 25-7 second set win to grab a 2-0 lead in the match.
Evansville would challenge UNI early in the third set with both teams splitting the first 18 points of the frame. Northern Iowa would pull away with an 11-4 scoring run that featured three kills from Fallert in a frame that saw UNI hit .290 with 14 team terminations. With the Purple Aces continuing to crack the Panther defense, UNI pulled away for a 25-18 win to take the match in straight sets.
Fallert finished the night with a match-high 11 kills along with seven digs, while Dykstra tied her career-high with nine terminations. Rewerts posted eight kills and tied a career-high with nine block assists, with Olivia Tjernagel tallying seven kills. Cassidy Hartman and Calia Clubb each matched their season-bests with three blocks each, as Golden posted a match-high 18 assists. On the back row, Powers led the Panthers with 12 digs.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
UNI improves to 60-3 all-time against the Purple Aces with their six consecutive win over Evansville. The Panthers are also 47-3 against Evansville under head coach Bobbi Petersen, affect daily.
Northern Iowa has now started 10-0 in MVC play in each of the last three seasons, including four of the last seven years and for the 11th time since 1995.
The Panthers have now won 28 consecutive regular season MVC matches dating back to last season’s undefeated conference schedule, the fourth-longest league winning streak in team history. UNI has also won 32 in a row overall against MVC opponents in the regular season and postseason.
Head coach Bobbi Petersen is now just two wins shy of her 600th career victory, a milestone 57 other coaches have reached at the Division I women’s level. Petersen is also looking to become the 17th active head coach to reach the milestone and 19th to do so at one institution.
Fallert has recorded double-digit kill figures in 17 matches this season, including nine of UNI’s previous ten contests. Fallert also surpassed 1,300 career terminations on Friday night, moving ahead of Ashten Stelken (2005-08) for tenth on the program’s all-time list.
Defensive specialist/libero Erin Powers is now just one dig shy of 2,000 in her collegiate career. Notching 910 digs as a Panther, Powers recorded 1,090 digs during her first two collegiate seasons at UAB (2021-22).
UP NEXT
UNI returns to action tomorrow night as they battle the Indiana State Sycamores. First serve us scheduled for 6 p.m. CT with live coverage available on the Panther Sports Radio Network. Due to broadcasting conflicts with UNI’s home football game, the match will not be streamed on ESPN+
Fans are encouraged to wear purple for both matches as part of UNI’s annual homecoming celebration, as well as the program’s two-night 50th anniversary season reunion.
UNI volleyball fans can also get in on the homecoming celebration by participating in its 50th anniversary silent auction online HERE or through the Handbid app until 10:30 a.m. CT on Oct. 27. Items include pieces of competition nets, West Gym memorabilia and more.