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Women's Volleyball
UNI Wins MVC Title With Sweep Of Missouri State
Nov. 25, 2006 Normal, Ill. - Tournament Most Valuable Player Kristin Belzung (Ankeny, Iowa) had 39 assists and 10 digs, and Amy Sampson (Brooklyn Park, Minn.) had a match-high 14 kills, as the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team posted a 3-0 win over Missouri State in the championship of the 2006 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon. Game scores were 30-26, 30-24 and 30-19. With the win, UNI receives the MVC's automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Volleyball Championship. It will be the Panthers 12^th appearance in the NCAA tournament, and first since 2003. In addition to Belzung, Danielle Brazda (Omaha, Neb.) and Stephanie May (Dubuque, Iowa) were named to the all-tournament team. Ashten Stelken (Manchester, Iowa) added 12 kills for UNI, and four players - Belzung, May, Laura Rowen (Hansell, Iowa) and Brittany Bakker (Dike, Iowa) - each had double-figures in digs. UNI rode Sampson's right arm to a 30-26 win in game one. The sophomore had seven kills in the first game, including three in a row down the stretch, to give the Panthers the victory. UNI held a lead throughout most of the game, but after Missouri State pulled to within 20-19, the Panthers called timeout. That sparked four straight points for UNI, and MSU didn't get closer than three points the rest of the way. UNI hit .304 (19-5-46) to just .123 (16-9-57) for Missouri State. Belzung had 17 assists and six digs in the opening game.
With UNI leading 13-9 in game two, a Sampson kill keyed a 7-1 Panthers run that extended the advantage to 20-10, effectively sealing the second game. The Bears pulled within four late (27-23), but Rowen and Stelken finished the game off with kills to give UNI the 30-24 win and a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room. Sampson had five kills and Stelken four in the second game. Missouri State jumped out to a 4-0 lead in game three, forcing a UNI timeout. The Bears maintained their advantage through the first part of the game, holding a 14-10 lead. But UNI then had three straight blocks, starting a 10-1 run that gave the Panthers a 20-15 lead. The Bears scored two straight to make it 20-17, but UNI ended by scoring 10 of the 12 final points to win, 30-19. With the victory UNI improves to 27-7 on the season, while Missouri State falls to 26-8. Selections for the 2006 NCAA Volleyball Championship will be made tomorrow (Nov. 26) at 2:00 p.m., with the selections unveiled on ESPNEWS. The Panthers will view the pairings at Beck's in Waterloo. |
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