MATCH STATS
- No. 25 Northern Iowa def. Southern Illinois 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-19)
- Northern Iowa moves to 24-7, 14-3 Missouri Valley; Southern Illinos falls to 6-21, 5-11 MVC
- Carbondale, Illinois
- Attendance: 600
- Box Score
CARBONDALE, Ill. – Sophomore outside hitter Karlie Taylor notched 14 kills and 13 digs, while hitting at an errorless match-high .483 clip, while junior outside Bri Weber added 12 kills and 11 digs to lift Northern Iowa past Southern Illinois on Sunday.
Junior middle Piper Thomas also aided the Panthers with 11 kills and a team-best four blocks. Defensively, UNI got three double-digit dig efforts as junior libero Kendyl Sorge joined Weber and Thomas with 12 saves.
As a team, Northern Iowa bested SIU in every statistical category: outhitting the Salukis .342 to .157 and outdoing them 50-34 in kills, 3-2 in aces and 7-4 in blocks.
For their part, the Salukis got nine kills from junior middle Patience Brown and six each by redshirt senior outside Andrea Estrada and senior outside Abby Barrow. Brown put up a team-leading four blocks, while three players added double-digit digs led by Barrow’s 11. Sophomore setter Alayna Martin and senior libero Ashley Edelen chipped in 10 digs apiece.
Northern Iowa broke away with a 8-2 run midway through Set 1, turning a 10-9 lead into an 18-11 edge. Four players notched kills and the Panthers had help from a trio of SIU miscues in the rally. The Salukis cut the margin to five three times, last at 21-16, but couldn’t hold off a final 4-0 NIU run. Thomas accounted for the last three points with a kills and two blocks to close out the 25-16 win.
UNI cruised to an 11-6 lead in Set 2 with two kills apiece by Thomas, Taylor and Weber and an ace by Sorge. The Salukis sliced the deficit to two at 13-11 scoring five of the next seven points. Two Barrow kills and two Panther miscue aided the run. A pair of Jaydlin Seehase putaways pushed the Northern Iowa edge to four 17-13 and Thomas and Taylor added one apiece to make it 21-16. SIU called timeout and scored four of the next five out of the break, all on kills to pull within two at 22-20. Two Nellie Fredriksson putaways and one each by Barrow and Estrada forced a UNI timeout. A Taylor kill, a Heather Hook ace and a solo stuff by Seehase ended the set.
Thomas and Taylor each notched two kills and a block to lift UNI to an 8-3 edge in Set 3. Brown countered with two stuffs and a kill to make it 10-8. The Panthers pulled away with a 10-3 run, including three kills and an ace by Weber and a pair of Thomas putaways, which gave UNI a 20-11 advantage. Southern Illinois did not go quietly, scoring eight of the next 11 points, four on Panther errors and three by Estrada, who notched a kill, a block and an ace. A Weber kill ended the rally and a hitting error gave UNI the 25-19 win and the match.
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