HOUSTON, TEXAS — UNI Panther volleyball gave nationally ranked Creighton a fight Friday afternoon, breaking through for a dominant third-set victory before the No. 15 Bluejays pulled away to hand Northern Iowa a four-set loss in the opening match of the Rice Invitational.
Creighton defeated UNI 25-16, 25-17, 15-25 and 25-19 at Tudor Fieldhouse.
The Panthers piled up 11 blocks and showed flashes of the team that entered the season favored to again rule the Missouri Valley Conference, but offensive struggles proved costly. Northern Iowa finished the match with a .000 attack percentage despite another big performance from Cassidy Hartman.
The loss came less than a week after Hartman reached 1,000 career kills during UNI’s five-set heartbreaker at South Dakota.
Creighton jumped ahead 4-0 in Friday’s opening set before UNI answered with four straight points.
The Bluejays quickly regained control, however, using five blocks to disrupt the Panther attack. UNI managed nine kills but committed 12 attack errors and three service errors while hitting -.081 in the 25-16 setback.
Hartman led Northern Iowa with four kills in the first set.
UNI again found itself playing catch-up in the second frame.
The Panthers erased an early Creighton advantage and tied the set at 6-6, while Northern Iowa’s defense produced five blocks at the net.
Creighton matched that pressure with five blocks of its own.
Jadyn Petersen delivered a service ace midway through the frame, but nine UNI attack errors and a -.114 hitting percentage helped the Bluejays secure a 25-17 victory and a two-set advantage.
Northern Iowa came roaring back in the third.
The Panthers grabbed their first lead of the match during a four-point surge, then stretched the run to six straight points behind another Petersen ace to take a 15-9 advantage.
Grace Hannam, Calia Clubb and Lily Dykstra helped ignite the offense as UNI finally found holes in the Creighton defense.
Northern Iowa hammered 15 kills and hit .231 in the set, cruising to a convincing 25-15 victory and forcing the match into a fourth frame.
Creighton responded.
UNI fell behind by six but refused to fold, putting together a four-point run to slash the Bluejay advantage to 16-14.
Hartman hammered five kills in the fourth set as the Panthers threatened another comeback.
Northern Iowa’s attack errors ultimately became too much to overcome. UNI committed 11 of them in the set and hit -.042 as Creighton closed out the match with a 25-19 victory.
Hartman finished with a match-high 20 kills on a career-high 70 attacks. She also recorded six blocks and another double-double, the 28th of her UNI career and fifth this season.
It marked Hartman’s ninth career match with at least 20 kills and her third such performance of the season.
Her climb through the UNI record book also continued.
Hartman moved into 28th place on the Panthers’ all-time kills list with 1,026 career kills, passing Denise Cutell, Inga Rotto, Stacy Makoben and Jill Schoeberl.
Dykstra finished with eight kills, 11 digs and a service ace.
Setter Reese Booth posted 31 assists and 10 digs for her 17th career double-double and fifth this season. Booth also moved past Molly Turk into 14th place on UNI’s career assists list with 1,542.
Petersen led the Panthers with 20 digs and two service aces.
Maryn Bixby delivered a season-high seven blocks.
The loss dropped UNI to 42-19 all-time against Creighton. The Bluejays have now won 10 consecutive meetings in the series.
Friday’s showdown was a rematch of last season’s NCAA Tournament second-round battle, when Creighton also ended Northern Iowa’s season in four sets.
The Panthers return to the court Saturday against host Rice in their second match of the Rice Invitational.
First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m. Central time at Tudor Fieldhouse in Houston. The match will be available on ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network.
The strongest alternate headline angle would be “UNI Panther volleyball steals set from No. 15 Creighton, falls in four-set battle.”