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Nov. 12, 2004

Box Score

Omaha, Neb. - Rachael Tink (Waterloo, Iowa) had 19 kills and Laura Rowen (Hansell, Iowa) added a career-high 14 to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Creighton Friday night. Game scores were 31-29, 20-30, 30-21 and 30-22.

Tink added 14 digs on the night for her 11th double-double of the season. Abby Lemek (Sioux City, Iowa) and Stephanie May (Dubuque, Iowa) led UNI with 19 digs apiece. The win for the Panthers improved UNI's career record against Creighton to a perfect 23-0.

UNI won a tightly-fought first game. After the Panthers built a 17-12 lead, Creighton posted four straight kills, three by Leah Ratzlaff, to pull within 17-16. Although CU would pull even several times down the stretch, the last at 28-all, the Bluejays never took the lead. Tink had two of her six first-game kills in the final three points to give UNI the victory, 31-29.

Creighton controlled game two, jumping out to an 11-3 lead and never trailed. The Panthers pulled to as close as six, 23-17, but the Bluejays scored seven of the final 10 points of the game to win, 30-20. Creighton hit .286 (17-7-35) in the second game while UNI hit just .030 (9-8-33), with Rowen posting five of the Panthers' nine kills in game two.

The third game was a complete reversal of the second, as UNI jumped out to a 9-1 lead and was never threatened after that. The Panthers hit .351 (18-5-37) in the game, thanks to seven kills from Tink and four from Rowen. UNI also racked up four of its 13 total team blocks in the game.

Game four was even until the midway point, when UNI went on a 7-1 run to open a 21-15 advantage. Tink had three kills during that run. Creighton scored three straight points to pull within 26-22, but after a UNI timeout, the Panthers reeled off the last four points of the match to win, 30-22.

The match drew a Creighton school-record 923 fans to the Civic Auditorium. With the win, UNI improves to 20-8, 12-4 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Creighton falls to 17-8, 9-6 in the Valley. The Panthers play at Drake tomorrow night with first serve from the Knapp Center at 7:30 p.m.