The University of Northern Iowa volleyball team came into the weekend with a perfect Missouri Valley Conference record before falling in both their road matches against Illinois State and Indiana State.
The Panthers squared off with fellow first place Illinois State on Friday night, falling 3-1 in four sets. UNI fell down early in the first set against the Redbirds, failing to recover in the set and dropping it 25-20.
UNI rebounded in a back-and-forth second set against ISU. With the set knotted at 12, the Panthers rattled off five straight points to take the lead, capped off by a Lindsey Schultz kill. Schultz finished the match with 12 kills as the Panthers took the set 25-20 and evened the match at 1-1.
The lead changed hands four times early in the third set before ISU took a 10-9 lead and never looked back, winning the set 25-17.
UNI could not recover in the fourth set as the Redbirds led from the first serve and closed out the Panthers 25-23.
The Panthers looked to recover against Indiana State on Saturday, but could not as they dropped their second match in as many days, 3-1.
Schultz’s second kill of the set put UNI up 17-15 before the Sycamores scored six of the next seven points to take control of the set for the rest of the way, giving themselves an early 1-0 set lead with a 25-23 win. Schultz had a team-high 14 kills in the match.
UNI struggled in the second set as they put up their lowest score in a set this season, scoring 12 and giving the Sycamores a chance to sweep.
The Panthers did not surrender the lead in the third set after the set was deadlocked at 3-3. Kinsey Caldwell had 13 assists in UNI’s lone set win on the night, racking up 41 total as the Panthers won 25-21.
The fourth set was the tightest of the match, experiencing seven lead changes before the Sycamores took a 17-16 lead, holding off the Panthers the rest of the way and taking the set 25-23.
UNI will take a break from MVC play as they square off with non-conference opponent South Dakota State at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in Brookings, S.D.
