Matthies, Petersen Earn Milestone Victories

A pair of coaches hit milestones this weekend, with Pepperdine coach Nina Matthies getting her 400th win and Northern Iowa coach Bobbi Petersen picking up her 100th victory.

Friday at Pepperdine, the No. 5 Waves cruised to the 3-0 sweep, 30-17, 30-25, 30-24 over No. 16 San Diego to extend a 14-match win streak and give Matthies the 400-win mark. The victory was also the Waves' 34th straight win in the West Coach Conference.

With a victory over No. 12 Santa Clara on Sunday, Pepperdine (17-2, 7-0) now sits atop the conference as the only remaining undefeated team in league play.

In Friday's match, the Waves were led by senior Lyndsey Hache' and freshman Sophia Milo. Both players tabbed 13 kills each while hitting over .500.

The match-up against Santa Clara was a bit closer, but the 15th straight win for the Waves came with a 30-25, 30-24, 27-30, 30-27 victory.

Senior Katie Wilkins paced Pepperdine, tallying 17 attacks, and Hache' equaled her previous match with 13 more kills. Milo had a big game blocking, picking up eight blocks for the second straight match.

Out in Iowa, the No. 13 University of Northern Iowa (18-3, 10-1) picked up two match sweeps at home to give Petersen victories Nos. 100 and 101.

The milestone came Friday night against Southern Illinois University with a 30-21, 30-27, 30-14 win. On the attack, the Panthers kept the ball in play, picking up only 11 errors and hitting .423 for the match.

Leading UNI was Molly O'Brien and Shari Vermeer, who both had 10 kills. O'Brien also had nine of UNI's 14.5 blocks.

Although her match against SIU was solid, O'Brien came back the next night even better against Evansville. Saturday she recorded 16 kills, 10 blocks and seven digs as UNI won again at home, 30-18, 30-14, 30-25. O'Brien hit .571 for the match.

Outside hitter Rachael Tink also came up big for the Panthers, knocking down 15 kills and adding seven block assists. Vermeer had eight kills while hitting .538.

Petersen is in her fourth season as head coach and has compiled a 101-17 record, advancing to the third round of the NCAA tournament in both 2001 and 2002.

UNI has now won 68 straight at home.

Mountain West Shootout

In a Mountain West Conference showdown, Colorado State firmly established itself as the league leader, beating second place Utah 30-25, 31-29, 22-30, 31-29 on Sunday in a match televised on CSTV.

Each team was fresh off a Saturday conference victory, as Colorado State defeated BYU 3-0 and Utah edged Wyoming in five. Going into Sunday's match, the Rams were 8-0 in conference play while the Utes were one came behind at 7-1.

Outside hitter Dre Downs hit .478 with 13 kills and eight blocks while middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley had 16 kills for No. 18 CSU (18-4, 9-0). Becky Sarauer chipped in 15 kills and Tess Rogers added 10.

For Utah (13-7, 7-2), outside hitter Shelly Sommerfeldt led all players with 18 kills. Three more Utes were also in double figures, as Kim Turner, Danielle Leichliter and Lyndsey Henderson all had 11 kills. Three other Utes combined for five kills.

Utah outhit the Rams, .214 to .160, and outblocked them 18-12. Amie Toone had 10 blocks, Tuner seven and Henderson six.

Colorado State is now two games ahead of Utah in the league standings, while the Utes remain in second place, one game ahead of BYU (6-3). The Cougars stayed in the league race with a 3-1 victory over sixth place Wyoming (3-6) on Friday.

San Diego State is fourth in the conference at 4-4, Air Force (3-5) defeated eighth place New Mexico (0-8) to remain in fifth place and UNLV (2-6) is in seventh.

Illinois climbs in Big Ten behind Belter

The University of Illinois grabbed a share of the Big Ten lead last week behind the play of junior opposite Jessica Belter. Belter had 16 kills at then No. 18 Michigan State while hitting .737. She then followed that up with by hitting .417 with 12 kills, 11 digs and eight blocks against Michigan.

For her performances, Belter was named the AVCA National Player of the Week for Oct. 20.

This week, the Illini picked up two more victories to remain in a first place tie with Minnesota and Wisconsin. Illinois defeated Purdue 3-2 and Indiana 3-1.

CSTV Petition Drive

College Sports Television (CSTV) is putting together a petition with the goal of getting 100,000 signers in order to approach cable operators nationwide with the intention of getting CSTV in the homes of the college sports fan. If you would like to add your support, and show your appreciation for the volleyball match of the week, you can sign the petition.

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