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Women's Volleyball
UNI Tops Southwest Missouri State
Oct. 3, 2004
Cedar Falls, Iowa - Senior right side hitter Shari Vermeer (Sioux Center, Iowa) had a career-high 24 kills and added seven blocks to help lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a thrilling 3-1 win over Southwest Missouri State Sunday night in the West Gym. Scores of the match, which was telecast live nationally by College Sports Television, were 30-28, 18-30, 34-32 and 36-34 in favor of the Panthers. Vermeer hit .302 for the evening (24-8-53), coming up with several key plays down the stretch to help seal the match. She had nine kills in the fourth game alone, hitting .444 (9-1-18) in the final game. Teammate Rachael Tink (Waterloo, Iowa) added 18 kills, while Abby Lemek (Sioux City, Iowa) tied her career-best with 10 kills and also had a match-high 18 digs. After the teams split the first two games, the Panthers were able to win each of the final two, with each going past the 30-point mark. A pair of Vermeer kills helped UNI go on a 4-1 run and open up a 28-24 lead late in the third contest, but SMS reeled off four straight points to pull even at 28. Prior to pulling the third game out, UNI had four game point opportunities, only to have the Bears fight off each one, twice on kills from Katie Kreimer. But with UNI up 33-32, Kreimer was blocked by Vermeer and Trista Humpal (New Hampton, Iowa), giving the Panthers the 34-32 win. The fourth game saw SMS jump out to an early 13-6 lead, before UNI battled back. The Panthers eventually tied the match at 17-all on a Humpal and Erin Hirsch (Waterloo, Iowa) block. After the teams were tied at 25-all, neither squad led by more than one the rest of the way, until Stephanie May's (Dubuque, Iowa) service ace gave the match to the Panthers, 36-34. SMS fought off three match points prior to that, while UNI staved off three game points of its own. The fourth game saw UNI go farther into a contest (36-34) than it ever had since rally scoring was instituted prior to the 2001 season.
A season-high crowd of 1,806 helped spur the Panthers on to victory. Hirsch set a career high with 64 assists, and UNI had a season-high 77 kills on the night. The Panthers also posted 15.5 team blocks. With the win, UNI improved to 8-6 overall, 3-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while SMS fell to 10-5, 4-2. The Panthers return to action Tuesday night (Oct. 5), when they entertain the Iowa Hawkeyes at the West Gym. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m. |
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