Northern Iowa ousts WSU in MVC volleyball semifinals

Northern Iowa beat Wichita State 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-18) in the semifinals on the Missouri Valley Conference volleyball tournament on Friday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Northern Iowa won all three matches against WSU this season, all by 3-1 scores.

MaryAshton Floyd led WSU (20-10) with 17 kills. Abbie Lehman had 10 kills and six blocks, and Ashlyn Driskill added 10 kills.

The third-seeded Shockers used a 7-0 run that included three straight service aces by Emily Hiebert to grab a 15-10 lead in the opening set, and WSU never relinquished the lead.

WSU led the second set 19-15 but was unable to close it out. UNI scored five of the final six points in the set, three on kills by Kayla Haneline.

Northern Iowa surged to an 11-2 lead in the third set, but the Shockers managed to get to 24-20, then drew within one point on a kill by Floyd and consecutive blocks by Lehman before the Panthers won the set.

WSU never led the fourth set but the score was tied six times, the last at 15-15.

No. 2 seed Northern Iowa will play MVC regular-season champion Illinois State for the title on Saturday.

This story was originally published November 28, 2014 at 10:15 PM with the headline "Northern Iowa ousts WSU in MVC volleyball semifinals."