THIS WEEK IN PANTHER VOLLEYBALL

Fri, Sep 21 at Illinois State 7:00 p.m.

Sat, Sep 22 at Indiana State 6:00 p.m

UNI CONTINUES MVC PLAY ON THE ROAD

The University of Northern Iowa volleyball team (9-5) will continue Missouri Valley Conference play this weekend on the road. The Panthers will travel to Normal, Illinois, to take on the Illinois State Redbirds on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The match will be held at the Redbird Arena on the Illinois State campus. UNI will then head to Terre Haute, Indiana, on Saturday to face the Indiana State Sycamores at 6:00 p.m. The match will take place at the ISU Arena on the Indiana State campus.

All 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...

• The Panthers hosted the Northern Illinois Huskies in their home opener last Tuesday at the McLeod Center. UNI defeated the Huskies 25-19, 25-15, 11-25, 25-18. Amy Braun led the Panthers with 11 kills and Megan Lehman followed with 10 kills. Molly Turk notched 31 assists and Candice Burke had 29 digs for the Panthers.
• UNI won their first tournament of the season, the CEFCU Classic, in Peoria, Illinois, over the weekend. The Panthers opened MVC play by taking on Bradley in the opening match of the tournament. UNI swept Bradley 25-15, 25-22, 25-19. The Panthers fell to Arkansas State 22-25, 25-14, 19-25, 12-25, in the second set of the tournament. UNI wrapped up the CEFCU Classic by defeating Long Beach State 25-18, 25-22, 21-25, 25-20.
• Candice Burke was named MVP of the CEFCU Classic, and Megan Lehman was an All-Tournament honoree. Burke had 73 digs and four service aces over the weekend, while Lehman recorded 40 kills and 11 digs.
• Candice Burke had a career high 35 digs against Long Beach State. Her previous career high was 30 against Evansville last season.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE

• Illinois State enters the weekend with a 7-5 record on the season. The Redbirds won the Rocket Classic in Toldeo, Ohio, September 8-9. They opened MVC play last weekend by defeating Evansville 3-0, but fell to Southern Illinois 0-3. Illinois State currently has a .169 attack percentage on the season. Ashley Rosch leads the Redbirds with 2.71 kills/set. Rosch was named MVC Freshman of the Week last week. Kailtyn Early leads the way for the Redbirds with 9.74 assists/set. Both Early and Rosch were named to the Rocket Classic All-Tournament team. Jenny Menendez leads Illinois State with 4.93 digs/set. UNI leads the overall series against Illinois State 43-19. Last season, the Panthers defeated the Redbirds 3-1 on the road and 3-1 at home. UNI then took on Illinois State in the semifinals of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference tournament and got the 3-0 sweep.

SCOUTING INDIANA STATE

• Indiana State enters the weekend with a 2-10 record. The Sycamores went 1-2 in the Miami of Ohio Tournament, September 8-9. Indiana State opened MVC play over the weekend and was defeated by both Southern Illinois, 0-3, and Evansville, 2-3. The Sycamores currently have a .205 attack percentage on the season. Shea Doran leads Indiana State with 3.78 kills/set. Erika Nord leads the way with 6.39 assists/set and Ashlen Buck had 3.35 digs/set. The Panthers dominate the overall series against Indiana State, 50-2. Last season, UNI swept the Sycamores in both games.

HOTEL AMBASSADOR GOLDEN EAGLE CLASSIC

• UNI finished 2-1 in the Ambassador Hotel Golden Eagle Classic in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 8-9. The Panthers won the first match against Wake Forest 25-16, 25-18, 25-16. UNI had to take on No. 23 Michigan in the second game of the invite. This was the third weekend in a row that the Panthers had to take on a Top-25 ranked team. UNI fell to the Wolverines 3-1. Marquette was the final opponent for UNI at the invite. It was a hard fought match but the Panthers won it 3-2. Seniors Amy Braun and Candice Burke were both named to the Ambassador Hotel Golden Eagle Classic All-Tournament team. Braun had 43 digs, 16 assists and 35 digs for the Panthers over the weekend. Burke recorded 47 digs and one service ace for UNI.

CAREER HIGHS AT GOLDEN EAGLE CLASSIC

• A couple Panthers had career highs in the match against the Marquette Golden Eagles. Megan Lehman recorded a career high 19 kills for UNI. Molly Turk had a career high with both 48 assists and 17 digs in that match. Macy Ubben also had a career high 10 digs in the match against Wake Forest.

IOWA STATE TOO MUCH FOR PANTHERS

• The Panthers traveled to Ames, Iowa, on September 5th to take on in-state rival the No. 18 Iowa State Cyclones. UNI played tough but could not keep up with the Cyclones. The Panthers fell 18-25, 25-23, 15-25, 25-27, to Iowa State.

 LUXE CITY CENTER TROJAN INVITATIONAL

• The Panthers travelled to Los Angeles, California, Aug 31- Sep 1 for the Luxe City Center Trojan Invitational. UNI first faced the Boston College Eagles and defeated them 25-17, 22-25, 25-22, 25-7. In the second game of the tournament, the Panthers had to face No. 5 USC and fell 18-25, 20-25, 16-25. This was the second weekend in a row that the UNI Panthers had to take on a team ranked in the Top 10. UNI went up against Mississippi State in the final game of the Trojan Invite and they defeated the Bulldogs 25-20, 26-24, 25-20, to take second place in the tournament. Senior Krista DeGeest and junior Shelby Kintzel were named to the Luxe City Center Trojan Invitational All-Tournament Team. DeGeest had 31 kills and two solo blocks for the Panthers. Kintzel also had 31 kills over the weekend.

BURKE NAMED MVC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

• Candice Burke was named MVC Defensive Player of the Week. Burke recorded 12 digs in UNI's 3-1 win over Boston College at the Luxe City Center Trojan Invitational over the weekend. In the second game of the tournmament, Burke tallied 20 digs and two service aces in the Panther's 0-3 loss against No.5 USC. The final match was against Mississppi State and Burke recorded 18 digs and two service aces to help lead UNI to a 3-0 win. This is the third time in her career that Burke has earned Defensive Player of the Week.

MORTAR BOARD PREMIER

• 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 on Aug 24-25. 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.

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.

TOURNAMENT 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.