Volleyball Takes on Liberty, Texas State

SATURDAY'S ACTION:

Saturday, August 31 – San Marcos, Texas (Strahan Arena)
(RV) UNI vs. Liberty – 11:30 a.m.
(RV) UNI vs. (RV) Texas State – 7:00 p.m.

The Panthers travel to San Marcos, Texas for two matches against Liberty and Texas State. The Panthers will take on Liberty for just the second time in program history, the Panthers defeated the Flames 3-0 in their first match back in 2008. The Panthers and Bobcats will hit the floor for the first time program history on Saturday.

Bobbi Petersen entered the 2019 season with 485 career victories as head coach, ranking 28th among active coaches in victories. Saturday Petersen will pair up with Texas State legend, Karen Chisum who ranks 3rd with 895 career victories.

THE PANTHERS
•The Panther volleyball team dropped the opening match of the year to #4 Texas, 3-1.

• Senior Karlie Taylor opened the year with 19 kills and 19 digs.

• Freshman Emily Holterhaus finished her first career match with 11 kills and a team high .243 hitting percentage.

• Abbi Staack finished with a career high 19 digs.

• The Panthers return five starters from last year's NCAA Tournament team including First Team All-MVC selections Rachel Koop and Karlie Taylor and Second Team All-MVC selections Kate Busswitz and Jaydlin Seehase.

• The Panthers received 13 votes in the AVCA preseason poll, the team's 13 votes rank them 33rd in Division I volleyball.

• Bobbi Petersen enters the season with a career 485-151 record, 15 wins away from 500 and 18 wins away from becoming the UNI all-time wins leader.

• Bobbi Petersen's 485 wins ranks 28th in NCAA Division I coaching victories. Petersen's .763 winning percentage is the 8th highest in active Division I coaches.

• The Panthers earned their 10th AVCA Academic Award in the 2018-19 season with a 3.41 team cumulative GPA.

• Rachel Koop returns to set the Panther offense after averaging 11.97 assist per set in 2018, leading the conference and ranking 5th nationally. Rachel Koop ranks 10th in career assists per set with a 9.19 average.

• Karlie Taylor returns for her senior season after recording 4.77 kills per set in 2018, ranking 6th nationally. Karlie Taylor ranks 2nd all-time at UNI in kills per set with a career average of 3.86.

AVCA ACADEMIC SUCCESS
The Panthers earned their 10th AVCA Academic honor after posting a 3.41 cumulative GPA in the 2018-19 academic year. This is the 10th time the team has earned the award and the 9th time in a row.

PANTHERS PICKED TO WIN MVC
The Panthers earned all ten first-place votes in the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches poll and are projected to finish first ahead of Illinois State, Bradley, and Missouri State.

This is 16th time that UNI enters a season as the coaches' pick to win the league crown. The Panthers have won 11 titles as the MVC favorite and finished in second place during the other four years.

2018 MVC PRESEASON POLL
# Team (1st-place votes)……………. Points
1. UNI (10)..........................................................100
2. Illinois State ..............................................89
3. Bradley.........................................................68
4. Missouri State.........................................68
5. Loyola............................................................56
6. Drake............................................................54
7. Valparaiso..................................................42
8. Indiana State..........................................28
9. Southern Illinois....................................23
10. Evansville.................................................22

AVCA PRESEASON COACHES POLL
The Panthers are receiving 13 votes in the AVCA preseason poll, ranking the team 33rd in NCAA Division I volleyball. UNI is the only MVC team receiving votes in the poll.

TOUGH SCHEDULE
The Panthers will take on the best teams in the nation in 2019, scheduling five top 25 teams and two teams receiving votes in the AVCA Preseason Poll.

NCAA WIN PERCENTAGE
Coach, Team                      Yrs. W L              Pct.
1. Russ Rose, Penn St. 40           1,272 206 .861
2. Mary Wise, Florida 32 931        171 .845
3. John Cook, Neb 26 721        149 .829
4. Dan Fisher, Pitt 8 223 49 .820
5. Jerritt Elliott, Texas 20 506        113 .817
6. H.McCutcheon, Minn. 7 189 47 .801
7. Tom Hilbert, CO St. 30 735 206 .781
8. Bobbi Petersen, UNI 19 485 151 .763
9. Travis Hudson,West Ky. 24 610 213 .741
10. Kelly Sheffield, Wis. 1 8 433 154 .738

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Kate Busswitz

Emily Holterhaus

Rachel Koop

Jaydlin Seehase

Abbi Staack

Karlie Taylor

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