This past weekend, UNI hosted a five team tournament and finished 2nd at 3-1, Illinois State finished ahead of UNI at 3-0.

UNI was the only team to play all four other teams and the Panthers also had the best winning percentage headed into the game as well. The Panthers lost to Illinois State 25-21, 19-25, 20-25, 29-27, 11-15. They then swept Northwestern; 25-20, 25-20, 25-19; and Syracuse 25-16, 25-18, 25-18. For the final game they steamrolled North Dakota State 25-9, 25-20, 25-18.

Friday’s lead off match for UNI saw the Missouri Valley opener for both the Panthers and the Illinois State Redbirds. UNI was preseason #4 in the conference and ISU was #5 respectively.

The first set saw UNI lose the first point only to take the lead at 4-1 and easily marched to 25. Set two was the opposite of the first with ISU never surrendering after taking a 2-1 lead. The third set jockeyed between both teams and even saw a tie a 20-20.

ISU then scored five straight points. The fourth set was a tug of war and saw a 20-20 tie also, but both teams battled this time. UNI held off a match point and eventually won on senior Kayla Haneline’s kill. For the second straight game UNI faced a fifth set, they would not win this one though.

Both teams fought hard and never allowed more than a one-point lead till ISU went up 11-9 and went on a 5-1 run to beat the Panthers. For the second straight match a Panther recorded a 20-20, sophomore Bri Weber with 22 kills and 23 digs.

On Saturday, UNI played six sets between two matches and didn’t lose any. In fact, the Panthers were rarely threatened late in the sets and never once trailed after reaching the five point mark.

The Panthers also had only one set in which they were tied after the 10-point mark. The noon game set the tone for the Panthers as they lost only one set point and won on their first match point. It even gave UNI the ability to give some experience to freshman Abbi Staack who nearly doubled her sets played, from 4 to 7, and digs, from 6 to 11.

UNI proceeded to roll the Orange of Syracuse with little problem. The most impressive part of this win was Syracuse had four players listed at 6’4; there was one other 6’4 player in the whole tournament and two 6’3 players, all Northwestern.

UNI has four players at 6’0 plus, UNI lost the block battle and still figured out a way to win. UNI also swept NDSU without incident for the final game on Saturday.

They beat the Bison by having a 20-5 lead in the first set and never trailing in the third. Bri Weber was the only Panther to make the tournament team. The team will return to McLeod next weekend.