CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- The No. 21 University of Northern Iowa volleyball team stretched the nation's second-longest winning streak to 25 straight with a 3-1 win over visiting Creighton on Friday night at McLeod Arena in Cedar Falls. Scores of the match in favor of the victorious Panthers were 25-19, 21-25, 25-17, 25-21.
The first set featured 11 ties and two lead changes before an 8-1 run by UNI proved to be the difference. With the teams tied at 14-all, UNI would reel off six straight points to build an insurmountable lead. UNI pounded 20 kills and hit .395 in the first set, while also getting 24 digs, nine from libero Ellie Blankenship.
The second set was a defensive struggle from the outst. Creighton's Heather Thorson had a hand in four consecutive blocks as the Jays claimed a 11-5 lead. The Panthers rallied to take their only lead of the set at 20-19, but CU would score six of the final seven points to take the 25-21 decision on a Sarah Schulze kill. Creighton had 29 digs and five blocks in the second set, keyed by four kills from Allie Oelke.
UNI recovered from a 5-1 deficit early on to win the third set, 25-16. With the score tied at 14, UNI would go on a 6-0 run to take a 20-14 lead. Michelle Burow was unstoppable in the third set, seven kills, many of them on CU overpasses.
The Panthers trailed most of the fourth and final set as well before a 5-0 run gave them a 18-15 lead. UNI would stretch that edge to 20-16. Creighton scored three in a row to close within 21-20 before the Panthers emerged with a 25-21 victory.
Runge led CU with 14 kills on .448 hitting, while ALlie Oelke also had 12 kills and 20 digs. Nayka Benitez led CU's defense with 24 digs. Creighton finished with 51 kills, one ace, 86 digs and 12.5 blocks while hitting .174.
Northern Iowa got career-high kill efforts from Aschoff and Burow, as both ladies had 20 putaways. Blankenship had 31 digs. The Panthers had 68 kills, one ace, 100 digs and three blocks while hitting .254.
Creighton closes the regular-season on Saturday with a 7 pm match at Bradley. There will be no radio for the match, but the game can be followed via Live Stats via www.gocreighton.com.
NOTES: Creighton fell to 1-37 all-time against ranked opponents, including a 1-4 mark this season ...Northern Iowa leads the all-time series with Creighton by a 34-3 margin ...Sophomore middle blocker Laurel Sanford, who ranks second in the MVC in blocks per set (1.31), did not play due to injury ...Megan Bober became the first setter in CU history to reach 100 blocks in a season during the third set ...Allie Oelke had her 11th double-double in 17 MVC matches this fall while Megan Bober collected her fourth double-double of the fall ...Megan Bober, who entered the night with 967 assists, moved past 1,000 career assists in her 106th career set, fourth-quickest in CU history ...Jessica Houts moved into fourth place in MVC history with 531 block assists, passing former Missouri State standout Mindy Struckhoff (527) ...With tonight's results around the league, Creighton is locked into the 4/5 match in the MVC Tournament quarterfinals and will play Drake in the 8 pm match. The winner of that match plays Friday at 6 pm against Northern Iowa.
