Volleyball Travels to Take on UNI in Battle of Top Teams
The Missouri Valley Conference’s top two volleyball teams will meet Friday night in Cedar Falls, Iowa, when Belmont takes on the University of Northern Iowa.
At 11-1, the second-ranked Bruins are enjoying a program-best start to a season, but they will have their work cut out for them against a top-ranked UNI team that hasn’t lost a conference match since Nov. 16, 2022.
“They’ve been a top-tier mid-major program for the last 25 years. I think they have one of the best coaches in the country,” head coach Fritz Rosenberg said during media availability on Tuesday. “She gets the most out of them, and they’re one of the best defenses in the country for a reason.”
UNI’s coach is Bobbi Peterson, who is in her 27th season at the helm of UNI and has a career record of 653-228.
Peterson has won four straight MVC Coach of the Year Awards, and her teams have won four straight MVC regular-season and tournament championships.
“It’s been a good standard to chase in the Missouri Valley, and I’m excited about the challenge,” Rosenberg said.
While Belmont’s volleyball program doesn’t have quite as illustrious a past as UNI does, Rosenberg has turned the team around in his two seasons as head coach.
This season, the Bruins have earned the program’s first-ever wins over Drake, Illinois State and the University of Illinois Chicago. Since Rosenberg took over as head coach, the Bruins are 19-9 in conference play.
In the Bruins’ three seasons in the MVC before Rosenberg took over, they made the tournament once with an overall conference record of 17-37.
Fresh off clinching their second straight MVC tournament berth and in the midst of a season full of firsts, the Bruins are looking to become the first MVC team to snap UNI’s 72-match win streak in conference play.
“All the pressure’s on their side of the net to try to get to 73, and we’ll play a little loose and see where the chips fall,” Rosenberg said.
Ultimately, Rosenberg’s team is trying to keep its focus away from UNI’s past 72 matches by honing in on the match at hand.
“We’re just trying to stay focused on one point at a time and not look at them as ‘Oh my gosh, it’s UNI,’ but just as another team,” senior Emily Warmenhoven said.
With UNI’s attendance typically in the thousands, the Bruins are looking to start strong early to try to take the crowd out of the equation.
“I think having momentum from the start will be huge for us,” senior Connie Kofoed said. “Creating energy both on and off the court and just having trust in every single one of us will be very big.”
After the match against UNI, Belmont will travel to take on Drake on Saturday before finishing the regular season at home Nov. 13-14 against Bradley and Illinois State, respectively.
This article was written by Sam Dicus and Austin Embry
Comments