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Aug. 30, 2008

Final Stats

Boca Raton, Fla. - Tournament Most Valuable Player Shannon Aschoff had a career-high 19 kills to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of Florida Atlantic tonight. Set scores were 25-20, 25-16 and 25-14. The win gave the Panthers the championship of the FAU Invitational.

It was UNI's third straight three-set sweep over the two days of the FAU Invitational, after posting a 3-0 win over North Florida on Friday, and a 3-0 victory over Bethune-Cookman earlier today.

In addition to Aschoff, UNI's Ashten Stelken was also named to the FAU All-Tournament team. Stelken had nine kills and five blocks tonight, while outside hitter Amy Sampson chipped in with 11 kills. Sophomore libero Ellie Blankenship had 22 digs.

Aschoff had three early kills as UNI opened a 5-3 lead in set one. Florida Atlantic pulled even at five all, before the Panthers scored three straight points to go up 8-5. After FAU blocked a UNI attack to get within one, 9-8, the Panthers went on a 5-0 run to open a 14-8 edge, and that proved to be the difference in the game. FAU got as close as three, 23-20, but Michelle Burow had a kill and Aschoff and Stelken teamed up on a block on set point. Aschoff had eight kills in the first set, while Blankenship had 13 digs.

The Panthers scored the first four points of set two and never trailed en route to a 25-16 win. UNI opened leads to 4-0, 8-3 and 15-8 early, and never let FAU get closer than five points after the midway point of the game. Aschoff was once again the offensive catalyst for the Panthers, as she racked up eight kills on just 12 swings.

Set three was tied at six all before the Panthers went on a decisive 8-0 run to go in front, 14-6. Aschoff and Stelken each had a pair of kills, and Stelken and Sampson teamed up for two blocks during the run. UNI held a double digit lead for much of the rest of the set, posting a 25-14 win and the match victory.

UNI hit .370 (48-11-100) for the match, while Florida Atlantic hit .162 (34-16-111). The Panthers also had 51 digs compared to 35 for the Owls.

With the win, UNI improves to 3-0 on the season, while Florida Atlantic falls to 2-1. The Panthers are next in action Sept. 5-6, when they host the UNI Invitational. Clemson, Marquette and Northern Illinois come to the McLeod Center for two days of college volleyball action.