WICHITA, Kan. - Amy Sampson, Ashten Stelken and Shannon Aschoff combined for 45 of UNI's 57 kills as the University of Northern Iowa volleyball team posted a 3-1 win over Evansville Thursday night in the first round of the 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference volleyball championship.

Set scores were 19-25, 25-18, 25-15 and 25-14.

Sampson had a match-high 17 kills and hit .405 (17-2-37), Stelken 15 kills with a .303 hitting percentage (15-5-33), and Aschoff had 13 kills and hit .323 (13-3-31).

Aschoff also posted her sixth double-double of the season by racking up 15 digs. Libero Ellie Blankenship led all players with 19 digs, and setter Jessa Benson came off the bench to record 32 assists, four kills, six digs and three blocks.

With the victory, UNI improved to 24-7 overall, while Evansville fell to 14-18.

The Panthers will face second-seeded Creighton (18-8) in today's semifinals, with first serve from Charles Koch Arena on the campus of Wichita State University set for 5 p.m.