Nov. 23, 2007

Final Stats

Springfield, Mo. - Laura Rowen had 16 kills and 13 digs to lead the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Creighton in the semifinals of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference tournament, held at Hammons Student Center. Game scores were 30-18, 30-17, 22-30 and 30-19.

With the win, the second-seeded Panthers (21-10) advance to tomorrow's championship match against fifth-seeded Illinois State (21-10). The Redbirds won twice on Friday, defeating fourth-seeded and host Missouri State, 3-0, in the morning's first round, and then topping top-seeded Wichita State, 3-2, in the other semifinal Friday evening.

In addition to Rowen, Shannon Aschoff had 15 kills and a career-high 12 blocks for the Panthers, while Amy Sampson pitched in with 12 kills. Ashten Stelken had nine kills and a career-best 13 blocks, and Ellie Blankenship tied for match-high honors with 20 digs. In addition, UNI senior middle blocker Danielle Brazda had six block assists, which moved her into a tie for the UNI and Missouri Valley Conference career record with former Panther All-American Molly O'Brien (2000-03). Both players now have 653 career block assists.

The Panthers never trailed in game one, jumping to a 5-0 lead out of the chute. The Panthers had two of their six game one blocks during that early stretch, along with getting a pair of kills from Rowen. The Bluejays used a 5-1 run to pull within 14-13, but after a UNI timeout, the Panthers went on an 11-3 run to open a 25-16 lead and cruise to the 30-18 win. UNI hit .410 (18-2-39) in the first game to just .098 (15-10-51) by Creighton. Rowen had six kills while Aschoff and Sampson each had four.

UNI controlled game two, holding leads to 8-1, 15-3 and 18-5 en route to a 30-17 win. The Panthers hit an impressive .548 (18-1-31) in game two, led by Rowen who had six kills. Sampson, Aschoff and Stelken each added three kills for the Panthers as they opened a 2-0 lead.

Creighton got on the board with a 30-22 win in game three. UNI held a 6-4 advantage early, before the Bluejays scored six straight to go in front 10-6. The Panthers used back-to-back blocks to pull within 14-11, but that was as close as they would get, as CU pulled within two games to one. Creighton hit .154 (18-10-52) in the game to .091 (10-6-44) for UNI.

The Bluejays continued their momentum early in game four, getting a pair of service aces from Allie Oelke to open a 5-1 lead. Creighton held a 9-4 edge when UNI head coach Bobbi Petersen called timeout, and that spurred the Panthers on. Coming out of that break, UNI got three kills from Aschoff and two from Sampson during a 7-2 run that pulled UNI even at 11-all. Tied at 16-16, the Panthers took the lead for good on a Kristin Belzung kill, and that started an 11-1 run to effectively put the game away. Aschoff had three more kills during that decisive stretch, as UNI eventually posted a 30-19 win and earned the match victory, three games to one.

UNI hit .296 on the evening to .096 for Creighton. The Panthers had more kills (63-55) and digs (57-49) than the Bluejays, and held a commanding lead in blocks (19-2).

Tomorrow's championship match will be televised live at 4:00 pm on Fox College Sports, and on a tape-delayed basis on Comcast SportsNet at 8:30 pm and FSN Midwest at 9:00 pm. The match can also be heard live on the radio in the Cedar Falls area on KWLO 1330 AM.