PEORIA, Ill. -- Sophomore Caitlin Staib (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) collected a career-high 12 kills and freshman Megan Schmidt (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) turned in her second double-double of the year, but Northern Iowa hit .299 as a team and posted 15 blocks as the Panthers topped Bradley 25-13, 25-19, 21-25, 25-15 in Missouri Valley Conference volleyball action Saturday at the Markin Family Student Recreation Center.

The Braves (5-22 overall, 1-13 MVC) looked to get off to a hot start in their first match on campus this season and scored three of the first four points in the opening set. Northern Iowa (21-5 overall, 11-3 MVC) countered with a 9-2 run to take a 10-5 advantage. The Panthers stymied Bradley's offense in the first set, collecting six blocks and boasting a 13-12 edge in digs while limiting the Braves to a negative attack percentage en route to a 25-13 victory.

Bradley trailed 5-4 in the second set when Ashten Stelken would record four blocks to highlight a 10-3 UNI run which gave the Panthers a 16-7 lead. Northern Iowa hit .379 in the second set and led from start to finish in a 25-19 win.

Northern Iowa held a 21-20 edge in the third set, before the Braves made a late push. Staib sparked a five-point BU spurt with a kill and sophomore Melissa Collins (Manchester, Mo./Parkway South) followed with one of her five third-set kills. A Schmidt kill gave the Braves a 23-21 lead and Staib served up an ace to put Bradley in front 24-21. Collins put the finishing touches on a 25-21 win with another kill. The set victory was the first for BU in the series with UNI since 2005, snapping the Panthers streak of 16 consecutive sets won against the Braves.

Stelken helped UNI seize control early on in the fourth set. With the score tied at 5-5, Stelken followed up a BU service error with back-to-back kills and added another one later on to highlight a 6-1 Panthers run which put UNI in front 11-6. Bradley would fight back to within four points on a several occasions and trailed 17-13 when Stelken would again come up big for the Panthers. Northern Iowa's Beth Discher opened up a 5-1 UNI spurt with a kill and Stelken followed with a block assist and kill to help UNI take a 22-14 lead. Stelken would add another kill and serve the final two points to help the Panthers close out the match with a 25-15 win.

Staib led Bradley offensively with a career-best 12 kills and also added a season-best five digs. Schmidt turned in her second double-double of the year with 11 kills and 11 digs to go along with two blocks, while Collins and sophomore Emily Austin (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) each added nine kills. Freshman Rachael Dejean (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) collected a match-high 18 digs and helped the Braves to a 59-48 edge in digs.

Despite the Braves advantage in digs, Bradley couldn't overcome a .299 UNI attack percentage and 15 blocks. Three Northern Iowa players reached double figures in kills, paced by Stelken's 15 kills. She also collected six blocks while hitting .367. Discher and Shannon Ashcoff each added 11 kills, with Discher attacking at a .455 clip. Ellie Blankenship led UNI with 17 digs and helped limit the Braves to a .133 attack percentage.

Bradley returns to action Tuesday in the final non-conference match of the year when BU travels to Chicago, Ill., for a 7 p.m. match at DePaul.