Shockers top UNI in five sets in Valley volleyball semifinals

Wichita State lost the first two sets, then rallied for a 3-2 victory (15-25, 23-25, 25-17, 25-11, 15-7) over Northern Iowa in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference volleyball tournament Friday in Springfield, Mo.

WSU will play the winner of Friday’s late match between Missouri State and Southern Illinois for the conference championship at 4 p.m. Saturday. The winner gets the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Shockers never led in the opening set. They took a 9-6 lead in the second set, then allowed UNI to go on an 8-0 run. WSU pulled within a point four times, but never reclaimed the lead.

After the break Wichita State grabbed control of the match, never trailing in the third or fourth sets. Northern Iowa led once in the fifth sent, 4-3, but the Shockers quickly regained the lead and closed out the match on a block by Jody Larson and Katy Dudzinski.

Katie Reilly led the Shockers with 12 kills, and Mikalea Raudsepp had 11. Emily Hiebert had 35 assists and Dani Mostrom had 23 digs. Abbie Lehman had three kills and two blocks in the fifth set.

During the final three sets the Shockers limited UNI to attack percentages of .045, .031 and -.107. WSU had nine service aces — Reilly and Shimen Fayad had two apiece.

NCAA — The NCAA volleyball selection show will be televised on ESPNU at 8 p.m. Sunday.

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 8:22 PM with the headline "Shockers top UNI in five sets in Valley volleyball semifinals."