Panthers played a very lackluster match tonight and got owned by the Salukis, which gives SIU a season sweep over UNI, and pretty much kills whatever slight hopes UNI had for an at-large bid to the NCAAs. Even Asst. Coach Mahi flat out said in the postgame radio interview that he was disappointed in the way they played.
SIU won the first 21-25, then UNI won the second 25-21. Panthers were up 24-19 in the third, but gave up 5 straight points and SIU ended up winning 25-27. Then the Salukis closed it out winning the 4th easily, 17-25.
Panthers had a ton of hitting errors (27) and service errors (9), hitting only .158, and looked lost on defense much of the time, with poor passing which limited the offense. Most of the time, UNI's attacks were quite soft and easily handled (or flying outside the court), while SIU was hitting lasers.
There was a large crowd in attendance tonight (listed at 4126, which is 2nd highest for the year behind the Iowa State match), but the crowd to me seemed quite dead and unenergetic. Cheering was subdued and everyone seemed more intent on fiddling with their phones or talking about their pets or eating ice cream rather than on the volleyball match.
Anyhow, the loss drops UNI (10-3) into 2nd place in the standings, half a game behind WSU (11-3) and a game ahead of ILS (9-4), with SIU and MSU tied for 4th at 9-5.
SIU seems to be playing well down the stretch, and could make some noise during the final weeks of the season, where as UNI continues to be quite inconsistent.
SIU won the first 21-25, then UNI won the second 25-21. Panthers were up 24-19 in the third, but gave up 5 straight points and SIU ended up winning 25-27. Then the Salukis closed it out winning the 4th easily, 17-25.
Panthers had a ton of hitting errors (27) and service errors (9), hitting only .158, and looked lost on defense much of the time, with poor passing which limited the offense. Most of the time, UNI's attacks were quite soft and easily handled (or flying outside the court), while SIU was hitting lasers.
There was a large crowd in attendance tonight (listed at 4126, which is 2nd highest for the year behind the Iowa State match), but the crowd to me seemed quite dead and unenergetic. Cheering was subdued and everyone seemed more intent on fiddling with their phones or talking about their pets or eating ice cream rather than on the volleyball match.
Anyhow, the loss drops UNI (10-3) into 2nd place in the standings, half a game behind WSU (11-3) and a game ahead of ILS (9-4), with SIU and MSU tied for 4th at 9-5.
SIU seems to be playing well down the stretch, and could make some noise during the final weeks of the season, where as UNI continues to be quite inconsistent.
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