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Nov. 18, 2006

Final Stats

Cedar Falls, Iowa - In the first event in the McLeod Center - and in front of a crowd of 5,522 fans -- the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team claimed the 2006 Missouri Valley Conference regular season title with a 3-0 win over Bradley. Game scores were 30-25, 30-16 and 30-24.

It was the largest home crowd ever to see a UNI volleyball match, and the Panthers (25-7, 16-2 MVC) didn't disappoint, sweeping the Braves (8-22, 5-13 MVC) in one hour and sixteen minutes. With the win - its eighth straight - the Panthers earned the outright MVC crown, and will go into next weekend's 2006 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference tournament as the #1 seed, which earns them a bye into the semifinals.

Laura Rowen (Hansell, Iowa) had 14 kills and 12 digs for her 10th double-double of the season. She also went over the 1,000 kill mark for her career early in the second game, becoming just the 16th UNI player ever to reach that milestone. Danielle Brazda (Omaha, Neb.) had 10 kills and hit .667 (10-0-15), while Stephanie May (Dubuque, Iowa) led all players with 17 digs.

The Panthers held a 22-21 lead in the first game, before a Brazda kill started a 5-1 run that gave UNI a 27-22 advantage. Ashten Stelken (Manchester, Iowa) had two of her nine kills down the stretch as UNI won the first game, 30-25.

Bradley jumped out to a 6-4 lead in game two, but the Panthers answered with a 9-1 run to take control, 13-7. The Braves got no closer than five points the rest of the way, as UNI hit .364 in the second game (16-4-33) and cruised to a 30-16 win.

BU held a lead in game three as late as 18-17, but back-to-back kills from Trista Humpal (New Hampton, Iowa) pushed the Panthers to the lead for good, and Shannon Aschoff (Ankeny, Iowa) and Brazda each had kills during a 7-1 run that gave the Panthers a 24-19 edge, and eventually a 30-24 win.

The Panthers next match is next Friday (Nov. 24) at 5:00 p.m. in the league tournament at Normal, Ill. UNI will face the winner of the Creighton-Illinois State match held earlier that day.