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Nov. 24, 2006

Final Stats

Normal, Ill. - Sophomore Ashten Stelken (Manchester, Iowa) had 14 kills and Laura Rowen (Hansell, Iowa) added 10 to lead the top-seeded University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-0 win over fourth-seeded Creighton Friday night in the semifinals of the 2006 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference tournament. Game scores were 30-28, 33-31 and 30-24.

Stelken had 14 kills with just three errors for a .407 hitting percentage (14-3-27) in the match. First team all-conference setter Kristin Belzung (Ankeny, Iowa) had a double-double with 35 assists and 12 digs. Junior Brittany Bakker (Dike, Iowa) tied Belzung for team-high honors in digs, also posting 12.

Creighton jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first game, forcing a timeout by UNI head coach Bobbi Petersen. The Panthers slowly chipped away at the Bluejays lead, eventually taking a 23-22 advantage. UNI maintained a slight lead until Creighton tied the match at 27-all, when the Panthers used their second timeout. With the score even at 28-all, Rowen and Stelken had back-to-back kills to give the Panthers the 30-28 win. Rowen had seven kills and hit .462 (4-1-13) in the first game.

UNI opened an early 9-4 lead in the second game, but Creighton battled back to take an 11-10 advantage. A Stelken kill gave the Panthers the lead for good, 17-16, but it was a hard fought battle down the stretch. Trailing 27-24, the Bluejays scored three straight to pull even. The team's traded points the rest of the way, until Creighton had two straight hitting errors gave UNI the 33-31 win. Amy Sampson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) had six kills in the game, including two critical ones down the stretch.

Leading 16-13 midway through game three, UNI went on an 8-1 run to take control. Rowen and Stelken each had a pair of kills during that stretch, which saw the Panthers extend their lead to 24-14. Creighton made a late push, scoring three straight points to pull within 28-23, but Danielle Brazda (Omaha, Neb.) and Stelken had kills to give UNI the 30-24 win.

With the victory - its ninth straight - UNI improves to 26-7 on the season, while Creighton ends its season 21-10. The Panthers advance to tomorrow's championship match at 5:00 p.m., where they will face #3 seed Missouri State.