CEDAR FALLS - Northern Iowa's toughest road trip of the season turned out to be business as usual for the Panther volleyball team.

Challenged at Missouri State Friday and again at Wichita State Saturday, the 21st-ranked Panthers (26-2 overall, 16-0 Missouri Valley Conference) found a way to win two more league matches to clinch the regular-season championship and extend their phenomenal streak to 24 consecutive victories.

Coach Bobbi Petersen saw a team that hasn't wavered in its commitment to continued improvement, but she also saw a team that played with unique chemistry.

"There's no doubt we had one of our best weekends of the year this past weekend," Petersen said Monday during UNI's weekly coaches' luncheon.

UNI swept Missouri State, then won a five-set thriller over Wichita State on a night when more than 5,000 fans turned out to help honor five outgoing seniors.

The Panthers struggled offensively in the second and fourth sets against the Shockers, but they went down swinging.

"Our mistakes were definitely aggressive mistakes, and I think that's a big difference in our team right now in that we're making aggressive offensive mistakes as opposed to just letting up and letting them dig balls," said Petersen, whose team took control of the fifth set and won, 15-9, to seal the match.

"I don't think we could have played any harder, I don't think we could have played with more heart, and I think that was the biggest difference.

"Our kids stuck together. I think they've had very good team chemistry so far this year, but I think this weekend it went a couple notches higher than it's been all year. I'm very proud of the effort."

The regular-season title secure, UNI now turns its attention to the next goals on its list. First, the Panthers will try to finish an undefeated Valley season when they host Creighton Friday and Drake Saturday at the McLeod Center.

"Obviously, we're really excited about winning the conference championship, and it's great to see a group that has worked so hard be able to reach one of their main goals for the season because it doesn't always happen that way even when you're putting forth the effort," said Petersen.

"But saying that, we still have a lot of things we want to accomplish this season and part of that is still working to get better. We have one more weekend of conference play where we still have to do some things better before that conference tournament comes."

CROSS COUNTRY - UNI faced some stiff competition at the Midwest Regional cross country championships Saturday at Springfield, Mo., where Thibault Vandenabeele punched his ticket to the national championships with a 17th-place individual finish.

The meet included the second- and third-ranked teams in the country in Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, respectively, putting Vandenabeele's accomplishment in perspective.

"He's a great kid to work with," said coach Dave Paulson. "He's a tenacious competitor who never backs down. He showed again the type of competitor he is."

Vandenabeele is the fourth runner in Panther history to quality for Division I nationals and the first since the 2001 season.

SWIMMING - The Panthers endured a challenging day Saturday that featured separate duals against South Dakota State and Northern Colorado.

"Just about every single person on the team had a season-best time either in the morning or the afternoon, and our relays swam the best times they've had this season with the exception of one of them," noted coach Stacey Simmer.

"When you tallied the points, it just wasn't our day to win. They swam their hearts out."

Junior April Mangrich set personal-best times in the 200 butterfly and 500 freestyle.

UNI next swims at the Iowa Invitational Friday through Sunday against the Hawkeyes, Western Illinois and Truman State.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL - Coach Tanya Warren's veteran team is off to an 0-2 start after losses to North Dakota State Friday (64-62) and Missouri Sunday (74-57).

"It's obviously not the start we had hoped for," said Warren, whose team has struggled at the offensive end (38.9 percent overall shooting, 28.6 percent from 3-point range, 38 turnovers).

"We have to learn to win, and it starts with taking care of the basketball and it starts with hitting open shots. Are we disappointed? Yes. But it's a very long season and there's a lot of basketball to be played."

UNI hosts state rival Iowa (2-0) Sunday at 3 p.m.

MEN'S BASKETBALL - Winning Friday night's season-opener at Denver was no small feat for coach Ben Jacobson's Panthers.

The Pioneers are a veteran team that plays a unique style of offense, but UNI stepped up at key junctures of the game.

"No style points, just a victory," Jacobson said of the Denver win.

"The way Denver plays, there's an opportunity you're not going to look very sharp. Their matchup zone is very good, and the way they play offensively, they really take their time and you've got to defend a number of back cuts. Then they've got some guys this year that can really shoot the 3-point shot. A hard team to play against."

UNI plays DePaul at noon Friday in the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands.

WRESTLING - Coach Brad Penrith's team went 1-2 at the Northwestern Duals, defeating Eastern Michigan (22-12) while dropping decisions to Purdue (24-9) and Stanford (19-12).

Penrith saw too many missed opportunities.

"Either we didn't pull the trigger and they did, or we did something foolish," he explained.

The Panthers tangle with Harvard, Michigan State and Rutgers Sunday at the Sprawl and Brawl in Binghamton, N.Y.

"Our intensity level has got to go up," said Penrith. "We've got to do the smart things out there. We've got to do a better job at mat strategies and understanding where the edge of the mat is.

"That was the frustrating part."