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NOVEMBER 14, 2022 | NORTHERNIOWAN.COM | VOLUME 119, ISSUE 23

Panthers 5-5 entering regular season finale

ADAM JOHNSON

Sports Writer

The UNI football team was on a bye this week, so there was no football action for the Panthers on Saturday. This made for a great opportunity to look at how the season has gone for UNI, as there is only one game left on the schedule.

To this point in the season, UNI has a record of 5-5, and a lot of close victories and losses have put the team where they are. The season started with three straight losses against really good Air Force, North Dakota and Sacramento State teams. The North Dakota game came down to the wire, but the Panthers lost 27-29.

UNI then won back-toback games with a blowout victory against Western Illinois, and a close matchup with Indiana State. Against the Sycamores, UNI’s defense managed to stand tall late in the game, and UNI won, 20-14. Against Illinois State, UNI had the ball with one minute left, and needed a field goal to win. They came up just short, however, and lost to the Redbirds 23-21. The Panthers then went on to dominate Utah Tech and Missouri State.

With playoff hopes looking slim at 4-4, UNI went on the road to No. 20 Southern Illinois. This was an absolute shootout, and the Panthers narrowly edged out the Salukis by just one yard, when Southern Illinois came just shy of the endzone on a last second hail mary. Following the big victory, the Panthers hosted No. 1 South Dakota State. This was a close game throughout, and UNI nearly pulled off the upset, but South Dakota State pulled off the victory with a game winning field goal as the clock expired.

The loss to South Dakota State put UNI’s record at 5-5, and nearly eliminated their playoff chances. Even a victory at South Dakota next week would likely not be enough to get the Panthers into the playoffs. While this is disappointing, this UNI team has given us plenty to cheer about.

Quarterback Theo Day has been incredible in the passing game, throwing for a conference leading 2741 yards and 21 touchdowns. Sam Schnee has been on the receiving side of many of Day’s passes, as he has 45 receptions for 699 yards. Dom Williams and Vance McShane have been a great duo in the backfield, combining for nearly 1300 yards on the season and Williams having nine rushing touchdowns. All of these guys and many others have made UNI one of the best offenses in the conference this season. They rank fourth in the conference in scoring, averaging 30.5 points per game, fourth in rushing yards with 150.8 per game, first in passing yards with 279.3 per game and first in total yards with 430.1 per game.

The Panthers will have a chance to showcase their stellar offense and finish the season on a good note, as they travel to South Dakota on Saturday, Nov. 19.

COURTESY/UNI ATHLETICS

The Panthers will conclude their regular season on Saturday, traveling to South Dakota to take on the Coyotes. After a 31-28 loss to No. 1 South Dakota State, the Panther postseason chances are slim.

COURTESY/UNI ATHLETICS

Theo Day (12) has had an outstanding season for the Panthers in his second year with UNI.

MVC CHAMPS

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Carly Spies, Kira Fallert and Inga Rotto each recorded double digit kills as well with 13, 11 and 10 respectively. Fallert and Tayler Alden both got double-doubles as well with the 11 kills paired with 20 digs for Fallert while Alden had 12 digs and 46 assists as well as the one and only ace on the game. Sydney Peterson had an astounding 24 digs, tying for the season-high in that statistic.

The Panthers and the Salukis began the first set dueling it out to a 7-7 tie after a hot opening. UNI kept the pressure on Southern Illinois after going on a lengthy run to achieve a 20-13 score in favor of the Panthers. However, the Salukis had an answer as they went on their own run of 11-0 which ended up securing the set 25-22.

The next set was also a fight as the two teams were deadlocked in ties for a majority of the game. However, Holterhaus got the energy up for the team, helping them achieve a 25-18 win to tie up the game. The next set was a back and forth match-up that went way past the usual goal of 25 with a 29-27 win for the Salukis making the game 2-1 in favor of Southern Illinois.

The Panthers were backed into a do-or-die situation with a big win-or-gohome set and they did not disappoint. The teams had yet another back-and-forth matchup but many Panthers stepped up and helped aid them in an eventual 25-21 set victory. The last set was a high stakes matchup which would formally decide the game. This set was much like the rest with 10 ties going back and forth. The two teams battled until the very end in which the Panthers won 17-15 to win their first share of the conference.

The Panthers had to win one more match if they wanted to be the outright conference champions and their opponent was the Missouri State Bears. The Panthers had yet another great game in the conference with Petersen’s 30 digs and a Spies double-double with 10 blocks and 16 kills. Alden recorded a whopping 56 assists while also gathering 10 kills in the win for a double-double.

The Panthers started out the set much like the last game with many ties between the two teams early on. However, the Bears were no match for UNI’s late onslaught of attacks as the Panthers got the first edge up on their opponent after a 25-17 set. An impressive second set for Rotto and Fallert helped the Panthers get the 2-0 advantage on the Bears 25-20.

Missouri State rebounded back in yet another hardfought set for both teams. The set went down to the very last play as the Bears clinched the set 26-24. Olivia Tjernagel helped seal the game for the Panthers with an impressive performance. The Panthers made sure to solidify their place as the MVC Champions with a 25-18 win over Missouri State in the fourth and final set.

UNI will look to finish their spectacular regular season and complete a perfect conference record on Wednesday night against the Drake Bulldogs in Des Moines at 6 p.m.

NOVEMBER 14, 2022 | NORTHERNIOWAN.COM | VOLUME 119, ISSUE 23 CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

Across

1 Gull relatives 6 Spots to fast-forward through 11 Cleopatra's killer 14 Sharply inclined 15 Trip odometer function 16 Chinese steamed bun 17 *Realtor's client 19 Category 20 Rural stopover 21 __ d'Alene, Idaho 22 "Well, gosh!" 24 Social reformer Jacob 26 *Surface for slicing rye, say 28 Body ink 30 Eye part that may become detached 31 Golf's Slammin' Sammy 32 Karma 35 Vegas' "one-armed bandit" 36 *Vehicle's rear warning lamp 39 Head or tooth pain 42 Pick out with care 43 Aficionados 47 "Ye Olde" retailer 49 Lose its fizz, as soda 50 *Feline metaphor for an empty threat 54 Pâté de __ gras 55 Goodnight woman of song 56 "The __ Wears Prada": 2006 film 58 "__ you awake?" 59 Vied for office 60 Certain brain tissue, or what each half of the answers to the starred clues can be 63 Pre-marital (just barely) promise 64 Parisian love 65 Reagan attorney general Ed 66 After taxes 67 Easy victories 68 Medicare Rx section

Down

1 Tops with slogans 2 Ian Fleming or George Orwell, schoolwise 3 Get the old gang together 4 Old Nintendo game console: Abbr. 5 Job detail, briefly 6 More accurate 7 Change of __: trial request 8 Stars, in Latin 9 Lousy grade 10 Flasher at a disco 11 1797-1801 first lady Adams 12 City near Naples 13 Prodded 18 Stereotypical boxcar hopper 23 1979 Donna Summer hit 25 Local govt. prison 27 Bit of wine sediment 29 "Ghost" psychic __ Mae Brown 32 Winter malady 33 "__ My Children" 34 Shop __ you drop 37 Rapper/actor whose name sounds like a summer drink 38 "Westworld" network 39 Pill for pain 40 Pantomimed act in a parlor game 41 "Sure wish that doesn't happen" 44 Pool noodle, e.g. 45 "... who is the __ one of all?": Evil Queen 46 Manned the helm 48 Like the Great Depression, timewise 49 Like the Reaper 51 Figure of speech 52 Hop out of bed 53 Activist Medgar 57 Tanning device 61 Medical ins. plan 62 Scone go-with

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