Missouri State plays its first Missouri Valley Conference road matches of the season when it travels to Iowa to take on UNI (10-6, 1-2) at 7 p.m. Friday and Drake (10-6, 1-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The UNI match will be MSU's fifth consecutive and 10th overall contest this year against a team that played in the NCAA Tournament last season.
The Opponents
UNI is 10-6 overall and 1-2 in MVC play with league losses to Illinois State and Southern Illinois. The Panthers have notable non-conference victories over Kentucky and Iowa State, and hit .224 as a team compared to .173 for opponents with averages of 14.30 kills, 1.14 aces, 18.21 digs and 2.46 blocks per set. Kayla Haneline averages 3.39 kills and 0.98 blocks per set with a .339 attack efficiency as a preseason all-MVC pick for UNI.
Drake is 10-6 overall and 1-1 in league play with a win at Evansville and loss at SIU. Kyla Inderski leads the Bulldogs with 3.30 kills per set, and Drake hits .192 as a team while limiting the opposition to a .172 attack efficiency. DU averages 12.59 kills, 1.50 aces, 17.69 digs and 2.05 blocks per set.
The Series
The all-time series with UNI is 49-21 in favor of the Panthers. UNI has won 12 of the last 14 meetings.
MSU is 57-9 against Drake and has won 33 of the last 34 meetings, the exception being a loss in Springfield in 2010.
