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Sept. 9, 2006

Final Stats

Cedar Falls, Iowa - Laura Rowen (Hansell, Iowa) had a career-high 26 kills to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-2 win over Alabama this afternoon in the UNI Invitational. Game scores were 32-34, 27-30, 30-13, 30-24 and 15-11.

Amy Sampson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) had 16 kills, while Stephanie May (Dubuque, Iowa) and Patricia Dietz (Tripoli, Iowa) had 26 and 22 digs, respectively. The Panthers hit .266 as a team (72-21-192) and had a season-high 19 total team blocks. Alabama hit .134 (68-40-209) for the match.

Alabama scored the first four points of game five, forcing a UNI timeout. The Panthers slowly chipped away at the Crimson Tide's lead, eventually tying the score at 8-all. UNI took the lead for good, 10-9, on a block by Ashen Stelken (Manchester, Iowa) and Trista Humpal (New Hampton, Iowa). The lead grew to 12-9 after a Stelken kill and a Rowen service ace, and the Panthers were able to hold the lead from there. UNI's win from a 0-2 deficit was the team's first since Dec. 7, 2002, when it did the trick against Missouri in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

In the first game, UNI led by as many as eight points, 14-6, but Alabama came back, eventually taking a 25-23 lead. The Crimson tied scored three straight points to hold a 29-26 edge, but the Panthers fought off three game points to knot the score. Alabama then held off three UNI game points, eventually winning, 34-32.

The Crimson Tide took a 2-0 lead after a 30-27 win in game two. UNI fought back from a mid-game 18-15 deficit to take the lead, 22-21, and the game remained tight the rest of the way. But after a block by Kristin Belzung (Ankeny, Iowa) and Humpal gave the Panthers a 27-25 lead, Alabama scored the final five points of the game for the win. Alabama hit .370 (21-4-46) in the game while UNI hit .267 (16-4-45).

UNI dominated game three, jumping to a lead of 11-3 en route to a 30-13 win. The Panthers had nine blocks in the game, holding the Crimson Tide to -.136 hitting (8-14-44). Rowen had five kills for the Panthers, who hit .310 as a team (12-3-29) in the game.

The Panthers held that momentum through game four, using a 9-2 run to open a 19-11 lead. Rowen had eight kills in the fourth game alone, as the Panthers claimed a 30-24 win and forced the deciding fifth game. UNI hit an impressive .390 (18-2-41) in the contest.

With the win, UNI improves to 6-4 on the season, while Alabama falls to 4-4. The Panthers face 23rd-ranked Notre Dame tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the finale of the UNI Invitational.