Northern Iowa volleyball beats WSU 3-1

Wichita State’s volleyball team suffered its first conference loss, falling to Northern Iowa 3-1 (20-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-22) on Saturday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Jody Larson led WSU with 17 kills and 20 digs. Emily Hiebert had 45 assists.

WSU (10-5, 3-1 MVC) trailed 14-10 in the first game, but took the lead with a 10-3 run. Northern Iowa (11-8, 2-3) score three straight to make it 20-20 before the Shockers ran off five straight points.

In the second game Bri Weber had three kills during a six-point run that game UNI a 12-4 lead. WSU got within four points once the rest of the set.

WSU led early in the third set, but Northern Iowa never trailed after going ahead 7-6.

In the fourth set the lead changed hands five times. The Shockers scored three straight to pull even 21-21, but Northern Iowa scored four of the final five points and won the match.

The teams had nearly identical hitting percentages – .258 for WSU and .261 for UNI – but the Panthers finished with 18 more kills than the Shockers.

This story was originally published October 1, 2016 at 9:17 PM with the headline "Northern Iowa volleyball beats WSU 3-1."