CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Northern Iowa showed why it is one of the favorites to contend for the regular-season Missouri Valley Conference title, hitting .402 as a team, to sweep Bradley 25-11, 25-20, 25-13 Saturday in Missouri Valley Conference volleyball action at the McLeod Center.

Bradley (4-15 overall, 0-7 MVC) scored the first two points of the match, but UNI (17-2 overall, 7-0 MVC) would score nine of the next 10 points to take a 9-3 lead. The Panthers hit .414 as a team in the opening set and cruised to a 25-11 victory behind five kills from Shannon Aschoff.

The Braves kept things close in the second set, despite UNI boasting an impressive .485 attack percentage in the frame. Bradley trailed 20-18 after an Amy Reichel (Schaumburg, Ill./Schaumburg) kill. UNI would score three consecutive points to push its lead to 23-18 and Aschoff would later close out the set with one of her match-high 12 kills to finish off the UNI win.

The score was tied 10-10 in the third set when four Bradley attack errors and two UNI blocks helped the Panthers take control with a 9-1 run. Northern Iowa collected five of its nine blocks on the evening in the third set and closed out the match with a 25-13 victory.

Reichel led the Braves with eight kills, while junior Kaitlyn Comiskey (Crystal Lake, Ill./South) added six kills to help pace the Braves offensively. Freshman Rachelle Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) had a match-high eight digs to lead Bradley's defensive efforts.

Aschoff led UNI with 12 kills while Beth Discher added 10 kills and hit .474 in the match. Ashten Stelken collected seven kills without a hitting error and boasted a .636 attack percentage as the trio combined to record 29 of the Panthers' 40 kills and hit .509 as a group.

The Braves return to action Tuesday when they continue a four-match road swing with a 7 p.m. contest at Illinois-Chicago.