Panthers Have Successful Weekend in South Dakota

The Northern Iowa Panthers had an outstanding weekend in Vermillion, South Dakota as they won two of three matches at the South Dakota Classic and just missed claiming the tournament championship.

UNI opened with a 23-35, 25-20, 25-17, 25-22 victory over Air Force. The first set was at 18-18 when kills from Cassidy Hartman and Isabelle Elliott and a Jaydn Petersen ace gave the Panthers momentum at 21-18. But the Falcons then tallied five of the next six points. A Hartman kill knotted the score at 23, but two Air Force kills ended the set.

The Panthers trailed 10-6 in the second set when a Lily Dykstra kill, a Dykstra/Grace Hannam block, two Calia Clubb kills and a Reese Booth ace gave UNI a 12-10 lead and the Panthers controlled the rest of the way.

Northern Iowa earned a small lead early in the third set and maintained it. The Panthers fell behind 5-1 in the fourth set, but then three Claire Munch blocks, an individual one and one each with Clubb and Hartman along with two Hartman kills and an attack error gave UNI momentum for the rest of the set.

UNI then earned a 25-20, 25-21, 25-17 victory over Utah Valley. The first set was 6-6 when kills from Hartman, Dykstra and Maryn Bixby gave the Panthers control at 10-6. UNI’s lead in the second set was consistently around five points and seven in the third set with the advantage growing to 10.

UNI ended the tournament with a 22-25, 25-21, 25-19, 21-25, 15-17 loss to South Dakota. The Panthers fell behind in the first set 15-11 and fought back to 19-18 and 23-22 before the Coyotes scored the final two points.

UNI fell behind 8-4 and 11-7 in the second set before kills from Hartman, Dykstra and Hannam and a Petersen ace tied the score. The Panthers increased the lead to 21-16 on the way to the set victory. UNI led 9-3 in the third set on the way to a 2-1 lead.

The Panthers led 13-12 in the fourth when two Lauren Medeck kills, one from Morgan Bode and an attack error gave South Dakota a 16-13 advantage. UNI came right back with kills from Elliott, Bixby and Hartman as the Panthers took a 17-16 lead. Two kills from Avery Van Hook and one each from Medeck and Bode made for a 21-17 Coyote advantage and they maintained that lead.

UNI began 5-2 in the fifth set and a Hartman kill gave them match point at 14-12. But a missed serve and attack error tied things at 14. A Dykstra kill again gave the Panthers match point, but another missed serve evened the score again. Kills from Gabi Zacharasen and Van Hook improved South Dakota to 5-1 on the season. UNI is now 3-3.

Tournament leaders for Northern Iowa were: kills – Hartman 67, Dykstra 54, Elliot 21, Bixby 10, Booth and Munch seven, Hannam six and Clubb five; assists – Booth 146 and Petersen 19; aces – Petersen and Dykstra three, Booth two and Sophie Buysse and Taryn Rice one; blocks – Hannam 15, Hartman 10, Elliott nine, Bixby seven, Dykstra six, Munch five and Clubb two; digs – Petersen 69, Hartman 51, Rice and Booth 36 and Dykstra 19.