KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
CEDAR FALLS, IOWA ? The Indiana State volleyball team was held to their lowest hitting percentage of the season as the 12th ranked Northern Iowa Panthers kept their undefeated record in the Missouri Valley Conference clean with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-9, 25-16) win over the Sycamores Friday night.
The Sycamores hit at just .009 for the game with just 24 kills out of 114 attempts with 23 errors as they fell to 11-18 overall and 3-13 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Northern Iowa, who hit at .294 with 44 kills in 109 attempts with 12 errors, improved to 25-2 overall and 15-0 in the Valley.
Senior Ana Maira Charun led ISU in kills with nine while sophomore Morgan Dall had just five kills. Junior Stacy Qualizza and sophomore Shea Doran had three each while junior Shelbi Fouty and freshman Monique Morris each knocking down one. Fouty also had 22 assists while junior Kiya James had 13 digs.
The Sycamores trailed 10-4 early in the opening set but rallied to close within one, 12-11, after a Doran kill. The two teams traded the next four points as ISU still trailed by one 14-13 after a Charun kill. UNI broke away with a late 5-0 run that pushed the Panthers out in front 22-16 and the Sycamores could not rally back, dropping the opening set 25-17.
Indiana State opened the second set with a pair of kills by Dall but the Sycamores would not be able to hold the advantage. An 8-0 run by the Panthers put UNI on top 9-3 as the ISU offense went cold. The Sycamores would pick up just six more points the rest of the set and lost 25-9.
ISU played better in the third set but could never get the lead from the Panthers. After trailing by six early in the set, the Sycamores rallied to cut the deficit to four at 14-10 but that was the closest they would get. The Panthers held off Indiana State the rest of the set to take a 25-16 win and take the game three sets to none.
The Sycamores will be at Bradley on Saturday night to take on a Braves team (7-21, 2-13 MVC) that swept Illinois State 3-0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-18) in a game played on Thursday in Peoria.
