Football

A little more than a week from now, UNI athletics will be back in full swing. Coaches and athletes will iron out any last minute kinks in their rosters and game plans as they look to achieve success in their respective sport.

Football will start their season by traveling to Ames, Iowa to take on in-state rival, the Iowa State Cyclones. When these two teams faced off last year, the Panthers battled hard all four quarters and eventually came out on top against the Cyclones with a final score of 25-20.

Aaron Bailey led the offensive attack for most of last year’s regular season, but as the season came close to its end, backup quarterback Eli Dunn took the field more often and earned himself a starting position for the 2017-2018 season.

Dunn played in five games last year, completing 95 passes for a total of 1,175 yards. Seven of his completions resulted in touchdowns for UNI. In their 61-7 victory against Missouri State, Dunn threw for 418 yards in one game and was the first quarterback to do so since 2009.

After the Panthers play Iowa State, they will host Cal Poly in Cedar Falls at the UNI-Dome. Following that, they will play two back to back away games featuring Southern Utah and Southern Illinois.

Volleyball

An exciting welcome week is capped off with a skilled returning women’s volleyball team ready for action. The women’s volleyball team finished strong last year with a great 24-10 record overall and a 12-3 in their conference.

The 26th of August brings us volleyball action from Clarksville, Tennessee as the volleyball team faces off against teams from around the nation in the Culvers Governor’s Challenge hosted by Austin Peay. Missouri, who enjoyed a 27-6 season last year, looks to knock off the Panthers in the tournament opener in Tennessee.

Volleyball fans in Cedar Falls will have to wait until September 5 to see the Panthers play at home. The Panthers will face off against a tough Iowa State Cyclone side on the annual superhero night. The Iowa State Cyclones are looking to get revenge against the Panthers after a hard fought 2-3 loss last year at the McCloud Center.

With 4 returning starters, including stars like All-MVC winner Bri Webber (junior) the Panthers will attempt to replicate last year’s performance with a 33rd straight winning season. Hopes are high for a UNI women’s volleyball team that saw great success in 2016.

Soccer

The women’s soccer team has already started competing in their regular season games. As an easy warmup, their first event of the year was a fun scrimmage between team yellow and team purple.

The two scrimmage teams would then become one as the Panthers traveled to Macomb, Illinois, walking away with a 1-0 victory against Western Illinois. This was followed by a game against Minnesota State, with a final score of 2-2. But these matchups were merely exhibition games.

The real action did not take place until the Sunday before school started, when the women’s soccer team traveled to Illinois to take on Chicago State. They earned themselves a 5-0 victory over the Cougars.

Sydney Haden, Brynell Yount, Jamie Althiser, Jordyn Rolli and Hannah McDevitt all earned their first goal of the season, while goalie Jami Reichenberger recorded four saves, shutting out Chicago State.

The Panthers continued taking shots against Cougar goalie Gabby Klemp, she recorded 12 saves but five allowed.

Tomorrow, the team will travel to Omaha Nebraska for an away game, followed by Vermillion, South Dakota, where they will take on South Dakota State. They will finally return home on Sept. 1, for their home opener against North Dakota State.