Volleyball Bears Head North for Sunday-Monday Matches at UNI

Missouri State (8-1, 4-0) vs. UNI (2-5, 2-2)
Dates and Times	Sunday, Feb. 14, 1 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15, 5 p.m.
Location	Cedar Falls, Iowa
Site	McLeod Center
ESPN+	Sunday \| Monday
Live Stats	Sidearm Stats
Missouri State	Match Notes \| Volleyball Home Page
UNI	Volleyball Home Page

Storylines for the UNI Series
1) Missouri State (8-1, 4-0 Missouri Valley Conference) heads north this weekend for matches at rival UNI set for 1 p.m. Sunday and 5 p.m. Monday.

2) MSU is 8-1 overall for the first time since 2010 and just the fifth time in the school's Division I era, which began in 1982. The Bears also won eight of their first nine matches in 1986 and got off to 9-1 starts in 1993 and 2000. Missouri State is 4-0 in Valley play for the first time since 2017, when the team completed an unbeaten run through both regular season and tournament play.

3) Missouri State's last eight matches have gone at least four sets. Three others times (2001, 1997 and 1989) have the Bears played four-plus sets in eight consecutive contests, and have never done so in nine straight matches.

4) The Bears average 1.82 aces per set, on pace for the best figure since 1990 and well ahead of the 2003 club's 1.47 average that ranks as the best in the rally scoring era. Missouri State has three matches with 10-plus aces already this year, something not done in a full season at MSU since 2007 (four that year).

5) MSU has served 35 more aces than the opposition with 27 fewer service errors, resulting in a 62-point difference. The Bears have served more aces in eight of nine matches.

6) The Bears have a new head coach on the sideline this season after Steven McRoberts was hired on Jan. 30, 2020. McRoberts is in his 24th season as a collegiate head coach and 16th at the Division I level, and owns a 595-246 (.707) overall record with 21 winning seasons and 19 years with 20 or more victories. He ranks 19th among active Division I coaches in total victories and 24th in winning percentage.

7) The Missouri State-UNI coaching matchup features a combined 1,106 victories on the sideline, with MSU's Steven McRoberts ranking 19th among active Division I coaches with 595 victories, and UNI's Bobbi Petersen ranking 25th with 511 wins. The two have never faced one another.

The Opponent
UNI is the preseason MVC favorite and 2-5 overall with a 2-2 league record. The Panthers have a youthful roster with nine freshmen and three sophomores compared to five upperclassmen, and hit .172 as a team compared to .196 for the opposition with averages of 12.27 kills, 1.42 aces, 14.77 digs and 1.94 blocks per set.

Series History
UNI holds a 53-26 lead in the all-time series, winning the last four meetings after the Bears won the previous six. MSU has won two its last four trips to Cedar Falls after losing 24 in a row at UNI from 1991-2015.

Volleyball Bears Head North for Sunday-Monday Matches at UNI

Next Event

Footer