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Oct. 9, 2007

Final Stats

Macomb, Ill. - Ashten Stelken (Manchester, Iowa) had a match-high 18 kills to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep at Western Illinois tonight. UNI never trailed at any point in the match, winning by scores of 30-13, 30-25 and 30-28.

Stelken recorded a hitting percentage of .586 (18-1-29), and was joined in double-figure kills by Danielle Brazda (Omaha, Neb.) with 13 and Shannon Aschoff (Ankeny, Iowa) with 12. Freshman libero Ellie Blankenship (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) recorded a match-high 25 digs, which tied a school record for most digs by a UNI player in a three-game match. Panthers head coach Bobbi Becker Petersen also had 25 digs in a three-game sweep of Eastern Illinois on Oct. 30, 1987.

The Panthers racked up 63 kills to just 40 for the Westerwinds, while hitting .368 (63-14-133) and holding WIU to just .209 hitting (40-13-129). UNI also had 63 digs to 51 for Western.

Leading 13-9 in the first game, the Panthers scored five straight points to open an 18-9 lead, which was the start of a 17-4 run to end the game, as UNI posted a 30-13 win. Stelken and Aschoff each had six kills in game one, as UNI hit .541 as a team (23-3-37).

UNI held a 10-9 in game two, before kills from Brazda and Stelken keyed a 6-2 run that gave the Panthers some breathing room at 16-11. UNI extended its lead to 22-14, but WIU scored five straight points to get pull within 22-19. But that was as close as the Westerwinds would get, as UNI eventually posted a 30-25 win.

The Panthers held a five point lead early in game three, 12-7. Western Illinois stayed close to UNI, pulling even on two occasions, but was never able to take the lead. Stelken was a key down the stretch, as she had the Panthers last three kills of the match as UNI posted a 30-28 win.

With the victory, UNI improves to 10-9 overall, while Western Illinois falls to 7-12. The Panthers are next in action this Friday night when they host Southern Illinois at the McLeod Center. First serve is 7 pm.