THIS WEEK IN PANTHER VOLLEYBALL

Fri, Nov 2 vs. Drake 7:00 p.m.

Sat, Nov 3 vs. Creighton 6:00 p.m.

BIG WEEKEND AHEAD FOR PANTHER VOLLEYBALL

The University of Northern Iowa volleyball team (20-7) returns home this weekend for two more conference battles. The Panthers will host the Drake Bulldogs on Friday at 7:00 p.m. UNI will then go up against conference rival Creighton University on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. Both matches will be held in the McLeod Center on 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.

Saturday's game against Creighton is Youth Night at the McLeod Center. All youth 12 and under will get into the match for free.

PANTHER QUICK SETS...

• UNI is currently 11-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference. They currently sit in second place in the Valley and are half a game behind first place Creighton.
• UNI now sits at No. 45 in this weeks NCAA RPI. The Panthers are also in the top 50 in the following categories: kills/set (11th, 14.52), digs/set (20th, 17.75), assists/set (20th, 13.40) and match win-loss percentage (39th, 0.741)
• Junior Molly Turk is currently 17th in the nation in assists/set with 11.41. Senior Candice Burke sits at 44th in the nation in digs/set with 5.17.
• UNI is still ranked No. 7 in the nation in attendance, trailing only Hawaii, Nebraska, Penn State, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. Only two other Missouri Valley Conference teams made this list. Wichita State is right behind the Panthers at No. 8 and Creighton sits at No. 36.
• It was an interesting weekend of Valley play for the Panthers. They traveled to Kansas Friday night where they took on the Wichita State Shockers. UNI was on top of their game that night and swept the Shockers 3-0. Saturday they headed to Springfield to go up against the Missouri State Bears. The Panthers fell to Missouri State 25-23, 23-25, 23-25, 16-25.
• The Panthers have won 33 straight MVC games at home. The last time they lost a home game was against Wichita State on November 15, 2008

SCOUTING DRAKE

• Drake enters the weekend with a 4-19 overall record. The Bulldogs are 3-9 in Missouri Valley Conference play. They currently have a .126 hitting percentage on the season. Bentley Mancini leads the way for the Bulldogs with 2.60 kills/set and Halli Meyer has 5.30 assists/set. Sarah Madden leads with 5.87 digs/set, which puts her at No. 8 in the nation in that category. Jadranka Tramsolijanin averages 0.41 aces/set, which puts her 26th in the nation in that category. UNI faced Drake in Des Moines on October 6th and got the 3-1 win over the Bulldogs.

SCOUTING CREIGHTON

• Creighton University enters the weekend with a 20-3 overall record. The Bluejays are 11-1 in the Missouri Valley Conference and sit in first place overall. They are also No. 27 in the latest AVCA poll and No. 32 in the latest NCAA RPI. Creighton is also top 50 in the nation in the following categories: blocks/set (3rd, 3.18), match win-loss percentage (12th, 0.870), digs/set (34th, 17.33), and hitting percentage (35th, 0.252). Leah McNary leads the Jays with 2.95 kills/set and Kelli Browning follows with 2.94 kills/set. Browning is second in the nation in blocks/set with 1.73, and she sits at No. 10 in the nation in hitting percentage with .407. Megan Bober leads the way for Creighton with 9.69 assists/set and was just namesd the MVC Defensive Player of the Week. Kate Elman averages 4.99 digs/set for Creighton and was named MVC Freshman of the Week for the week of October 15th. UNI fell to Creighton 3-1 on October 5th in Omaha, Nebraska. The Bluejays gave the Panthers their first loss in 59 regular season MVC games and 65 overall MVC games.

PANTHERS EARN 10TH MVC WIN

• UNI hosted Indiana State October 19th and got the 25-22, 25-11, 25-23 sweep over the Sycamores. The Panthers welcomed Illinois State to town on October 20th. UNI defeated the Redbirds 25-9, 23-25, 25-15, 25-21. This was the tenth conference win for the Panthers, and they were the first team in the Valley to reach that this season

UNI NO. 7 IN NATION IN ATTENDANCE

• UNI is currently ranked No. 7 in the nation in home attendance according to a report released by the NCAA this week. The Panthers have had eight home matches for a total attendance of 22,880. UNI averages 2,860 people per game and only Hawaii, Nebraska, Penn State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois have higher attendances. Wichita State and Creighton are the only other Missouri Valley Conference schools to make the list, and they sit at No. 11 and No. 33 respectively.

UBBEN AND BURKE EARN MVC HONORS

• Macy Ubben was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week the week of October 15th, and Candice Burke earned honors as well as Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week. This is the second time this season that Burke has received this honor.

DEGEEST REACHES MILESTONES

• During the Panthers win over South Dakota State, senior Krista DeGeest reach 1,000 kills in her UNI career. She also reached 500 blocks in career in UNI's win against Evansville.

TWO MORE MVC WINS AT HOME

• UNI recorded two more Missouri Valley Conference wins October 12-13. They hosted the Evansville Purple Aces on Friday and got the 21-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-17 win over Evansville. The Panthers then got the 3-0 sweep over the Southern Illinois Salukis on Saturday.

UNI DEFEATS SOUTH DAKOTA STATE

• The Panthers took a break from Missouri Valley Conference play to host South Dakota State on October 9th. UNI defeated the Jackrabbits 25-13, 25-19, 22-25, 25-15

END OF MVC STREAK

• UNI had to face an end to it's Missouri Valley Conference win streak on October 5th when they fell to the Creighton Bluejays 3-1 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Panthers' win streak was at 59 regular season MVC games and 65 overall MVC games. UNI and Creighton are now tied for first in the Missouri Valley Conference with 5-1 records. The Panthers went on to defeat Drake 3-1 on October 6th in Des Moines, Iowa.

UNI REMAINS UNDEFEATED

• UNI remains undefeated in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Panthers earned the 3-0 sweep over Missouri State on September 28th at home. On September 29th, UNI hosted Wichita State and defeated them 26-28, 25-11, 25-18, 25-16. The Panthers have now recorded five straight MVC wins and are currently in first place in the conference.

PANTHERS 3-0 IN MVC PLAY

• The Panthers had a successful weekend (Sep 21-22) of Missouri Valley Conference play. UNI went up against the Illinois State Redbirds on Friday on the road. There were a couple close sets, but the Panthers prevailed with the 25-16, 25-23, 26-24, win. On Saturday, the Panthers headed to Indiana to take on the Indiana State Sycamores. UNI dominated the match and got the 25-14, 25-9, 25-12, win.

AMY BRAUN REACHES 1,000 KILLS

• At the Panthers' match against Bradley on Spetember 14th, Amy Braun reached a milestone by recording her 1,000th kill. Braun now belongs to the 1,000 dig and 1,000 kill club. Braun will be honored at the home match against Missouri State on Friday night.

CEFCU CLASSIC

• UNI won their first tournament of the season, the CEFCU Classic, in Peoria, Illinois, Septemeber 14-15. 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. Burke had a career high 35 digs against Long Beach State. Her previous career high was 30 against Evansville last season.

PANTHERS WIN HOME OPENER

• The Panthers hosted the Northern Illinois Huskies in their home opener September 11th 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.

AMBASSADOR HOTEL 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. 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.

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.

PRESEASON HONORS

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

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.

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.

MVC SCHOLAR ATHLETES

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

 ALL-AMERICAN HONORS

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