WICHITA, Kan. - Senior outside hitter Amy Sampson had a career-best 27 kills, and senior middle blocker Ashten Stelken tied her career-high with 22 kills, to lead the third-seeded University of Northern Iowa volleyball team to a thrilling 3-2 win over second-seeded Creighton in the semifinals of the 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference volleyball championship.

Set scores were 25-20, 26-24, 18-25, 25-27 and 15-8.

Sampson, who also had a career-high 77 total attacks, had a previous career-high in kills of 20 on two occasions, most recently Sept. 23, 2008, against South Dakota State. Stelken equaled her career-best of 22 kills, which she also had Oct. 6, 2007, versus Illinois State. In addition, sophomore setter Jessa Benson had a career-best 60 assists, and outside hitter Shannon Aschoff tied her career-high with 20 digs.

As a team, UNI had 72 kills, its most since recording 74 in the 2007 State Farm Championship match against Illinois State. The Panthers hit .221 (72-26-208) for the match, while Creighton hit .175 (63-29-194). UNI had more digs than Creighton (94-91), while the Bluejays had more blocks (16-12).

With the victory, UNI improved to 25-7 overall, while Creighton fell to 18-9. The Panthers advance to Saturday's championship match, where they will face the winner of the second semifinal between top-seeded Wichita State and number four seed Missouri State.

First serve from Charles Koch Arena will be at 7 p.m., and the match will be televised live on Fox Sports Midwest and Comcast Sports Chicago