CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Bradley couldn't keep pace with a hot hitting Northern Iowa team as the preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorite Panthers hit a blistering .372 to sweep the Braves 25-17, 25-17, 25-13 Saturday at the McLeod Center.

Junior Alise Tupuritis (Des Plaines, Ill./Maine West) led the Braves with six kills as Bradley (9-20 overall, 3-15 MVC) hit just .107 in the loss.  Northern Iowa (24-8 overall, 15-3 MVC) finished second in the final Valley standings and will be the #2 seed in next week's MVC Tournament in Springfield, Mo.

The Braves trailed 12-10 in the opening set, when UNI took control with 7-0 run and cruised to a 25-17 win.  The Panthers hit .350 in the first set, collecting 19 kills with just five attack errors.'

Northern Iowa boasted a  .448 attack percent in the second frame and matched the first set score with another 25-17 victory.  The Panthers broke open the frame with a 6-1 spurt to go in front 24-16 and took a two-sets-to-none advantage in the match with the win.

UNI totaled six blocks in the third set and hit .320 to take the frame 25-13 to complete the sweep.  Bradley pulled even at 8-8 on a Tupuritis kill, but eight consecutive Panther points put UNI in front 16-8 as Northern Iowa claimed its 25th consecutive home win in the series.

Tupuritis tallied six kills and finished the year with a team-best 309 kills.  Junior Lauren Zerante (Elmhurst, Ill./York) tied for team-high honors with six digs, closing the season with 498 digs for the fourth-highest season total in school history.

Megan Lehman and Krista DeGeest tied for match-high honors with 11 kills each to pace Northern Iowa.