CEDAR FALLS - When the NCAA decided to shorten college volleyball sets to 25 points, the intention was to enhance the excitement value of every point.

That goal was accomplished Saturday night in the marquee match of the UNI Invitational. Two stingy defenses produced several lengthy rallies to highlight an epic, 2-hour, four-set battle in which Northern Iowa scraped together enough momentum in each of the final two sets to earn a 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18 victory over Clemson (4-2).

In a match during which both teams were held to under .200 hitting, it was four aces on an eight-point service run by setter Jessa Benson that allowed the Panthers to rally back for a 17-12 lead in the decisive set. The shift in momentum proved too much for the defending ACC champs to overcome as UNI improved to 6-0 on the season with two tournament titles.

"It was exciting, but to be honest I wasn't really paying attention to what the score was," Benson said of the service run. "I was just going out there to send balls in and aim at my targets - it ended up for the best."

Senior outside hitter Amy Sampson continued her hot streak from Friday night and was named tournament MVP. She recorded a match-high 18 kills in the championship contest. Shannon Aschoff added 16 kills and Ashten Stelken completed the balanced attack with 12.

"Amy just stepped it up huge this weekend," UNI coach Bobbi Petersen said. "I thought she had some huge matches and was very deserving of this honor. When Amy's on, Amy's on, and she can fire that arm better than anyone."

The defensive battle could have been anticipated as it pitted two of the nation's top middle blockers against each other. Clemson's two-time All-America honorable mention standout Danielle Hepburn ranked 28th nationally last season in blocks-per set with 1.46, while UNI's Ashten Stelken was seventh at 1.58.

Saturday night, Stelken finished with five blocks while Hepburn had eight and ended one shy of tying the school's all-time block record. In the back row, libero Ellie Blankenship led the charge for UNI with a match-high 25 digs. Shannon Aschoff added 17 digs and Benson finished with 14.

The Panthers' defense offset its .181 attack by holding Clemson to .116 hitting. No team has hit better than .200 against UNI this season.

"The one thing we told our team going into this is that Clemson is going to do a lot of great things," Petersen said. "They shut some things down that we normally get kills on and they're able to hit a lot of shots that we haven't seen so far. We just had to counter back with good defense. We've been able to step it up in the backcourt this year, and I think that was huge. It's motivating for our team when we're digging a lot of balls."

In the opening set, UNI took advantage of three Tiger errors and a pair of kills from Stelken to recover from a 10-5 deficit. Stelken then took part in two blocks, allowing UNI to regain the lead 20-19. A pair of Amy Sampson kills and a Clemson hitting error sent the crowd to its feet for the Panthers first set point. After Clemson fought off two set points, before Benson found Stelken for the winner.

UNI was visibly out of sync in the second set as seven errors helped Clemson jump out to a 15-6 lead. After additional miscues - including a free ball that dropped between two UNI defenders - the Panthers fought back. Sampson won a joust at the net and three kills down the stretch to help UNI pull to within one at 23-22. A kill by Clemson's Lacy Hayes and a double hit from UNI ended the set.

After the intermission, UNI sharpened its attack with multiple kills from its big three triggering an 8-2 run for a 18-12 lead it wouldn't relinquish. An ace by defensive specialist Chelsea Saunders set up set up point and Shannon Aschoff closed it out with a kill.

Earlier Saturday afternoon, the Panthers jumped out to early leads in each set and never trailed as they rolled to a victory over Marquette (2-4), 25-20, 25-23, 25-20.

While UNI's attack was held to under .350 hitting for the first time in five matches, its defense continued to answer the challenge. The Panthers' recorded nine blocks to go with Ellie Blankenship's game-high 22 digs.

Stelken led a balanced UNI attack with 12 kills at a .588 effeciency. Redshirt freshman Michelle Burrow and Aschoff finished with nine kills, while Sampson added eight. Bre Payton handled setting duties with 32 assists.

Contact Nick Petaros at (319) 291-1428 or nick.petaros@wcfcourier.com