CEDAR FALLS, IOWA - The Sycamores are still searching for their first Valley victory on the road as they were swept by the 11th ranked Northern Iowa Panthers 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-13) in the McLeod Center on the campus of Northern Iowa Saturday.
Indiana State fell to 10-12 overall and 2-9 in the Valley with the loss and will be back in the ISU Arena next weekend as they host Creighton Friday and Drake Saturday. Northern Iowa extended their conference win streak to 47 games and improved to 22-1 overall and 11-0 in the Valley this season.
Junior Shea Doran led the Sycamore offense with nine kills in 15 attempts for a .533 hitting percentage. Sophomore Monique Morris had seven kills while senior Stacy Qualizza and sophomore Molly Murphy had three each. Sophomore Loni Mackinson had 21 assists and nine digs. Qualizza also had three blocks.
The Sycamores fought back from an early 5-1 deficit in the opening set to take their biggest lead at 12-9 on a Doran kill. ISU was up 13-11 after a Murphy kill but the Panthers ran off three straight points to retake the lead at 14-13. Morris tied the set up at 14 but the Panthers used a 5-0 run to take control of the set, going on to win 25-18.
Indiana State never led in the second set but stayed with the Panthers through the early portion, tying the set at seven on a Doran kill. ISU was down 11-10 after a Morris kill but then the Panthers scored eight straight points and never looked back. Northern Iowa went on to win the set 25-17 and take a two sets to none lead in the game.
The Sycamores scored the opening point of the third set with Indiana State's last lead coming at 5-4 on a Mackinson service ace. Northern Iowa scored 10 straight points to open up a 14-5 lead and the Sycamores would not be able to climb back into the contest, losing the set 25-13.
