Oct. 14, 2006
Box Score
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Junior middle blocker Kari Staehlin had eight kills, nine digs and six blocks, but it wasn't enough to keep up with high-flying Northern Iowa, as the first-place Panthers flexed their muscle in a 30-25, 30-24, 30-24 sweep over visiting Illinois State here at West Gym Saturday night. It was ISU's ninth consecutive loss at the facility.
With the loss, the Redbirds drop to 9-10 on the season with a 4-5 Missouri Valley slate. UNI improves to 16-6 and 8-1.
Laura Rowen had 12 kills to lead a balanced UNI attack, as the Panthers hit .221 as a team in the win. The ninth-ranked blocking team in the country also collected seven terminations. Lindley McDavid led ISU with nine kills.
"I thought we had an opportunity to win game three, and if that games goes our way, you never know what can happen in game four," said head coach Sharon Dingman. "But we shot ourselves in the foot with four service errors, and that is tough to overcome. I didn't think our backcourt played as well as they are capable of doing tonight. We just have to learn how to play at a high level consistency every night. We are definitely going to get there."
Illinois State never led in game one, as Northern Iowa built an early commanding lead and never looked back in claiming a 30-25 victory. Behind the serving of Kristin Belzung, the Panthers jumped out to the early 3-0 after kills by Stelken and Aschoff. They built leads of 9-4, 16-10 and 18-13 before Dingman was forced into her first timeout of the match. The `Birds clawed back into the game with a 7-5 spurt to pull within three, 23-20. Peggy Riessen, Staehlin, Erin Lindsey and Katie Seyller all recorded kills in the stretch. But UNI responded with a 5-2 run to push the advantage to 28-22. Illinois State cut the lead to three one more time in the stanza (28-25), but could not get any closer as the Panthers put the finishing touches on the 30-25 win. Stelken and Laura Rowen each claimed four kills for the Panthers in the game, while McDavid countered with four ISU kills.
Northern Iowa recorded a game-clinching run mid-way through game two to collect a 30-24 win and 2-0 lead in the best-of-five. The Redbirds jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, but the Panthers quickly tied the game at 2-2 after kills by Stelken and Danielle Brazda. Illinois State went back up by three, 6-3, after a kill by Riessen and an assisted block from Staehlin and Lindsey. Two points later, the Panthers began what ended as a 9-0 run to claim a 12-6 lead. The Redbirds had four hitting errors in the stretch. Illinois State trimmed the lead to four (15-11) eight points later following an ace by Seyller, but UNI extended the advantage to 18-11 with an ensuing 3-0 surge. The Panthers claimed their first double-digit lead (25-15) of the match 11 possessions later after Rowen collected her ninth kill. The Redbirds tallied a 5-0 spurt with Lindsey on the service line, but ISU could not close the gap to closer than four points, as the Panthers forced game point at 29-23 and clinched the 30-24 win following a kill by Shannon Aschoff.
The Redbirds had the lead for 15 points in game three, but the Panthers used a 5-0 spurt mid-way through the stanza to pull away, and collect its second consecutive a 30-24 win. Both teams traded points for the first 28 possessions before the Redbirds claimed their largest lead of the match, 17-14, following an ace by Staehlin that capped off a 3-0 run. Illinois State held the lead for the ensuing six points, but a 3-0 UNI spurt behind the serving of Belzung gave the Panthers a 21-19 lead, forcing ISU into their first timeout of the frame. Illinois State pulled within one (23-22) five points later, but could not regain the advantage. The Panthers finished off the game on a 4-1 run.
The Redbirds will travel to Valparaiso, Ind. for a non-conference match against the Commodores Tuesday (Oct. 17) at 7 p.m. before hosting Valley foes Southern Illinois (Oct. 20) and Evansville (Oct. 22) next weekend at Redbird Arena.
