University of Northern Iowa Athletics
Panther volleyball collects several All-MVC accolades
11/19/2022 9:10:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Specialty award choices feature Tayler Alden along with Bobbi, Sydney Petersen
ST. LOUIS – Tayler Alden, Sydney Petersen, Inga Rotto, and Carly Spies represent the UNI Panther volleyball team on the Missouri Valley Conference's 2022 All-MVC First Team, and Alden and Petersen were tabbed as Setter of the Year and Libero of the Year, respectively, while Bobbi Petersen was named the MVC Coach of the Year.
A plethora of Panther plaudits comes after UNI rebounded from a 7-11 league record and an eighth-place spot in the conference standings in 2021 to a 17-1 finish and a regular season title in 2022 during the greatest single-year championship turnaround in MVC history. The four UNI picks to this year's All-MVC First Team are the greatest total by any squad since the 2019 Panthers had four such honorees.
Alden's Setter of the Year recognition makes UNI the first MVC school with three different winners of this award as she joins Rachel Koop (2019) and Heather Hook (2017). In league play, Alden was the only person in the top 10 for both setting and hitting with her 10.50 assists per set ranking fifth and her .353 attack percentage sitting in sixth. She added a conference-setter-high 109 kills on 1.60 terminations per set and a combined total of 12.10 points won per set between her work as a setter and an attacker.
Sydney Petersen is the second Panther ever to be dubbed MVC Libero of the Year (Ellie Blankenship, 2010). Petersen's conference-only profile with 4.42 digs per set and 0.33 aces per set featuring a league-libero-leading 22 total service winners put her fourth in digging and ninth in serving for her own unique combination within the MVC's top 10. She dished out 1.46 assists per set on offense as well and was one of the many leaders of a Panther defense that topped all MVC teams in opposing hitting (.161).
Rotto, who was a member of the 2020 All-MVC Second Team, earns her first-ever nod to the All-MVC First Team just like her fellow Panther awardees Alden, Sydney Petersen, and Spies. Rotto landed in fourth among league qualifiers in attacking at .404 and also averaged 2.68 kills per set and 0.71 blocks per set. She highlighted her season with an outstanding October that included a .464 efficiency through 10 starts with eight or more terminations in all outings in a 10-0 month posted by the Panthers.
Spies follows up her placement on the 2021 All-MVC Second Team by receiving All-MVC First Team distinction this year. Spies tallied the league's fourth-best blocking rate with 1.09 blocks per set and the seventh-highest offensive clip with her .352 mark coming with 1.96 kills per set versus conference foes. She ended the regular season on a high note as she logged 28 rejections across just 19 sets and hit .313 or higher in all five of her starts in league contests in the month of November.
Bobbi Petersen becomes a seven-time Coach of the Year and ties her former head coach Iradge Ahrabi-Fard (1981-1996, 1998-2000) for the most selections for any MVC coach. Petersen also matches Ahrabi-Fard with a league-best 10 regular season crowns after overseeing a 10-win turnaround and seven-slot climb into first place to get the 2022 conference title. She is the MVC's winningest head coach with 554 victories, and triumphs from her playing and assistant tenures bump her UNI total to 827 wins.
A plethora of Panther plaudits comes after UNI rebounded from a 7-11 league record and an eighth-place spot in the conference standings in 2021 to a 17-1 finish and a regular season title in 2022 during the greatest single-year championship turnaround in MVC history. The four UNI picks to this year's All-MVC First Team are the greatest total by any squad since the 2019 Panthers had four such honorees.
Alden's Setter of the Year recognition makes UNI the first MVC school with three different winners of this award as she joins Rachel Koop (2019) and Heather Hook (2017). In league play, Alden was the only person in the top 10 for both setting and hitting with her 10.50 assists per set ranking fifth and her .353 attack percentage sitting in sixth. She added a conference-setter-high 109 kills on 1.60 terminations per set and a combined total of 12.10 points won per set between her work as a setter and an attacker.
Sydney Petersen is the second Panther ever to be dubbed MVC Libero of the Year (Ellie Blankenship, 2010). Petersen's conference-only profile with 4.42 digs per set and 0.33 aces per set featuring a league-libero-leading 22 total service winners put her fourth in digging and ninth in serving for her own unique combination within the MVC's top 10. She dished out 1.46 assists per set on offense as well and was one of the many leaders of a Panther defense that topped all MVC teams in opposing hitting (.161).
Rotto, who was a member of the 2020 All-MVC Second Team, earns her first-ever nod to the All-MVC First Team just like her fellow Panther awardees Alden, Sydney Petersen, and Spies. Rotto landed in fourth among league qualifiers in attacking at .404 and also averaged 2.68 kills per set and 0.71 blocks per set. She highlighted her season with an outstanding October that included a .464 efficiency through 10 starts with eight or more terminations in all outings in a 10-0 month posted by the Panthers.
Spies follows up her placement on the 2021 All-MVC Second Team by receiving All-MVC First Team distinction this year. Spies tallied the league's fourth-best blocking rate with 1.09 blocks per set and the seventh-highest offensive clip with her .352 mark coming with 1.96 kills per set versus conference foes. She ended the regular season on a high note as she logged 28 rejections across just 19 sets and hit .313 or higher in all five of her starts in league contests in the month of November.
Bobbi Petersen becomes a seven-time Coach of the Year and ties her former head coach Iradge Ahrabi-Fard (1981-1996, 1998-2000) for the most selections for any MVC coach. Petersen also matches Ahrabi-Fard with a league-best 10 regular season crowns after overseeing a 10-win turnaround and seven-slot climb into first place to get the 2022 conference title. She is the MVC's winningest head coach with 554 victories, and triumphs from her playing and assistant tenures bump her UNI total to 827 wins.
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