NORMAL, Ill. – The Drake University volleyball team's stay at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament came to an end Thursday with a 3-0 loss to UNI Thursday afternoon at Redbird Arena.
 
The No. 6 seeded Panthers upset the No. 2 seed Bulldogs by set scores of 25-19, 25-21, 25-20. The Bulldogs earned the No. 2 seed following a historic season in which they tied the program's highest finish ever in the MVC standings and best since 1996.
 
Drake (13-7) was led by first-team All-MVC selection Emily Plock's 14 kills on 32 attempts, while MVC Player of the Year Haley Bush added seven kills. Caitlyn Smith also added another double-double with 27 kills and 13 digs. Kylee Macke, an All-MVC second-team selection, led the defense with 17 digs and freshman Kacie Rewerts added three blocks.
 
UNI's (8-12) defense held Drake to a season-low 30 kills on .113 hitting, the Bulldogs' second-lowest percentage of the season.
 
The Panthers were paced by Emily Holterhaus' 11 kills, while Kaylissa Arndorfer added 10 as the Panthers had 46 kills.
 
Drake tried to stave off match point late in the third set with a 17-15 lead after back-to-back kills. However, UNI answered with four straight points to key a 10-3 run to end the match and give the Panthers their first win over Drake this season.