The answer is zero.

That’s how many current Wichita State volleyball players have played in and won a match against Northern Iowa. 

Jackie Church saw it happen back on Nov. 15, 2008, a 3-0 win for then-No.11 WSU. But Church, now a senior, was redshirting that season and never saw the court. 

Since then, UNI has made it nine straight over the Shockers. 

“UNI is a very complicated team,” junior middle blocker Ashley Andrade said. “They are very good at a lot of things. We each have our own individual strengths, but when it comes to UNI it’s always one of those things where we all have to throw it in one big bowl and all of us be good at everything.”

WSU isn’t the only team to have found it difficult to beat UNI in recent years. Until Creighton upset UNI on Oct. 5, the Panthers had won 59-consecutive regular season Missouri Valley Conference games. That number grows to 65 straight if including MVC tournament games. 

But when the Bluejays pulled the stunner over UNI in October, it changed the mindset for many Valley teams, including WSU. 

“Knowing that Creighton had figured out their weaknesses and pulled that out was great,” Andrade said. “It kind of boosted our confidence a little bit more. If Creighton can do it then we can do it, too.”

And the Shockers will get a chance on Friday, when UNI (19-6, 10-1 MVC) visits Koch Arena. 

WSU (16-5, 9-2 MVC) has faced UNI once this season, a 3-1 loss in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on Sept. 29. 

Since then, the Shockers have ripped off six-consecutive victories. With their confidence high, the Shockers are hoping UNI is walking into a trap on Friday. 

“I think playing at home will be a huge difference. Teams are way different on the road than they are at home,” junior setter Chelsey Feekin said. “We can show up and play just as good as we did against OU and all the other teams we’ve played in this run.”

A win for WSU wouldn’t just end its drought against UNI, but put it in a position for its first conference title since 2008. 

Creighton (18-3, 9-1 MVC) is the only other team standing in WSU’s way. But before the Shockers can even think about conference titles, they have to find a way to get past the mystery that has been UNI. 

“Once one (team) does it, we all kind of follow along and I feel like we can win this weekend,” Andrade said. “We’ve changed things up since the last night that we’ve seen them.”

Along with UNI on Friday, the Shockers will host Bradley (8-14, 2-9 MVC) on Saturday. Both games begin at 7 p.m.