Fri, Aug 31 Boston College 1:00 p.m. (CT)

USC 10:00 p.m. (CT)

Sat, Sep 1 Mississippi State 2:00 p.m. (CT)

The No. 23 University of Northern Iowa volleyball team (2-1) will head out West this weekend for the Luxe City Center Trojan Invitational in Los Angeles, California. The Panthers will go up against Boston College and No. 5 University of Southern California on Friday and Mississippi State on Saturday. The matches will take place at the Galen Center on USC's campus.

The matches will be carried by KWLO 1330 AM with Chris Kleinhans-Schultz calling the action. Audio for all matches is also available on www.unipanthers.com.

PANTHER QUICK SETS...

• UNI is currently ranked No. 23 in the latest AVCA poll.
• The Panthers had to take on the No. 7 Purdue Boilermakers in the first day of play in the Mortar Board Premier in West Lafayette, Indiana last weekend. The Panthers put up a fight, but it was not quite enough. UNI fell to Purdue 23-25, 23-25, 18-25. The next day of play UNI swept Pittsburgh 25-19, 25-21, 25-18 in the morning and went on to defeat George Washington 25-14, 25-12, 25-18, to finish 2-1 in the tournament.
• Seniors Amy Braun and Megan Lehman both earned spots on the Mortar Board All-Tournament team this weekend. Braun recorded 37 kills, 22 digs and six service aces for the Panthers. Lehman had 29 kills and .370 hitting percentage.
• Senior Candice Burke recorded 29 digs for the Panthers over the weekend. Junior Molly Turk had 109 assists for UNI, and fellow junior Shelby Kintzel had a .400 hitting percentage over the weekend.

SCOUTING BOSTON COLLEGE

• Boston College enters the weekend with a 3-1 record on the season after competing in their own Boston College Invitational last weekend. The Bulldogs have a .219 attack percentage coming into this weekend. Kelly Workman leads the Bulldogs with 3.87 kills/set and Courtney Castle follows with 3.20 kills/set. Kellie Barnum leads the way for Boston College with 8.46 assists/set. This will be the first meeting between UNI and Boston College.

SCOUTING USC

• No. 5 University of Southern California enters the weekend with a 3-0 season record, after winning the Texas A&M Inviational last weekend. The Trojans currently have a .285 attack percentage on the season. Samantha Bricio leads USC with 3.70 kills/set followed by Katie Fuller with 3.22 kills/set. Bricio was also just named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Hayley Crone leads the way for the Trojans with 12.60 assists per set and Natalie Hagglund recorded 4.80 digs/set. This will be the first meeting between UNI and USC.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE

• Mississippi State enters the weekend with a 2-1 record after defeating ULM and Jackson State in their own Mississippi State Maroon Classic last weekend. The Bulldogs have a .155 attack percentage on the season. Roxanne McVey leads Mississippi State with 7.33 digs/set. McVey leads the SEC with 88 digs and was also named SEC Freshman of the Week for her performance over the weekend. Taylor Scott leads the Bulldogs with 3.83 kills/set followed by Sarah Nielsenwith 2.92 kills/set. Paris Perret recorded 9.92 assists/set for MSU. This will be only the second meeting for UNI and MSU. UNI defeated MSU 30-28, 30-26, 30-26, back in 2006.

BEST OF THE BEST

• The Panthers head into the 2012 season with a No. 21 ranking in the American Volleyball Coaches Association preseason poll . UNI returns four starters from last season when the Panthers went an impressive 33-2 overall and a perfect 18-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference.

 PICKED TO WIN IT ALL

• UNI has been selected as the overwhelming favorite to win the Missouri Valley Conference in 2012 as voted on by the Valley's coaches. UNI received all 10 first place votes in the preseason poll. Last year was the third straight season that the Panthers went 18-0 in league play.

 PRESEASON HONORS

• Seniors Amy Braun and Krista DeGeest were both named to the MVC Pre-Season All Conference Team.

 TOUNRNAMENT REGULARS

• UNI made its sixth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance during the 2011 season.This also marks the 17th time that the Panthers have made it in the program's history. UNI has an 13-17 overall record in NCAA tournament play. Head Coach Bobbi Petersen has led the Panthers to nine NCAA tournament trips. UNI is 8-9 in NCAA tourament play under Petersen, including two trips to the Sweet 16.

 MVC CHAMPS... AGAIN

• In 2011, the Panthers earned their 16th Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title by sweeping Wichita State, 3-0, in the championship match and earned an automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Thanks to their 2011 league title, the Panthers now have five MVC regular season championships under head coach Bobbi Petersen and 15 overall. These 15 titles came in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

 ALL-AMERICAN HONORS

• Senior Krista DeGeest earned honorable mention 2011 AVCA All-America honors. She and fellow senior Amy Braun were both selcted as first team all-Missouri Valley Conference picks for the 2011 season.

 MVC SCHOLAR ATHLETES

• Amy Braun, Jenny Willms and Shelby Kintzel all earned MVC Scholar-Athlete first team status during the 2011 season.