University of Northern Iowa Athletics
UNI volleyball adds three transfers to 2023 rosters
1/13/2023 3:05:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- The Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) regular season and tournament champion UNI volleyball team has announced the addition of three NCAA Division I transfers to the 2023 roster on Friday. Calia Clubb, Erin Powers and Kara Oxenknecht will be eligible immediately and will participate in spring practices and competition.Â
"We are thrilled to be adding Kara, Calia, and Erin to our already exciting roster this spring," said head coach and reigning MVC Coach of the Year Bobbi Petersen. "They are all strong students, competitive athletes, and great people that will represent Panther Volleyball in a positive way. They will each bring depth to different positions on our team and we are looking forward to getting started with them and the rest of our team this spring."Â Â
Calia Clubb, OH, 6-1 | Tiffin, Iowa | Clear-Creek Amana HS / Illinois State
An outside hitter from eastern Iowa, Calia Clubb played her freshman season at Illinois State this fall, appearing in 16 matches with 103 total kills, 37 digs and 16 total blocks. Clubb recorded a season-high 15 kills back on Oct. 22 in a 3-1 loss to Murray State and tallied 5 digs in three separate matches. She also notched 3 blocks in the Redbirds' season finale against Bradley.
The Tiffin, Iowa native was a four-year letter winner in volleyball at Clear-Creek Amana High School, and also earned letters in basketball and track. A three-year volleyball captain for the Clippers, Clubb helped Clear-Creek Amana win three WaMac conference championships with over 1,000 career kills and digs. She was named All-Conference and All-District all four years of her prep volleyball career, was selected as the WaMac Player of the Year as a junior, was a two-time Honorable Mention All-State selection and a IGCA All-State Team member.
Clubb graduated from Clear-Creek Amana in December 2021 as her class' Valedictorian with a 4.0 GPA. She was also a member of the National Honor Society, honor roll and earned AVCA's Best & Brightest honors.
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Erin Powers, DS/L, 5-7 | Waukesha, Wisc. | Mukwonago HS / UAB
Mukwonago, Wisconsin product Erin Powers joins the Panther roster after three seasons at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB). During her time with the Blazers, Powers saw action in 110 total matches while recording 1,090 digs, plus 272 assists and 69 service aces. She also earned Conference USA All-Freshman Team honors during the 2020-21 season, and was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Week once. During her redshirt freshman season in 2021, Powers recorded a career-high 26 digs at UTSA, ranking 6th in Conference USA in total digs with 376.
A product of Mukwonago High School, Powers was a three-time all-conference defender, earning Second Team All-State honors during her senior year where she served as a team captain. Powers also played softball at Mukwonago as an outfielder.
Kara Oxenknecht, MB, 6-1 | Naperville, Ill. | Naperville North HS / New Hampshire
The reigning America East Conference Freshman of the Year and a First Team All-Conference middle blocker, Kara Oxenknecht joined the UNI roster after one season at the University of New Hampshire as a member of the America East All-Rookie and All-Tournament teams. During her lone season with the Wildcats, Oxenknecht helped UNH go 19-10 and reach the championship match of the America East Conference Tournament, where they ultimately fell short against UMBC.
Oxenknect recorded 207 kills (second most on the team) with the Wildcats, along with 23 service aces, 59 digs and 111 total blocks, third most in the league. She posted a career-high 17 kills last October against Bryant, and blocked 8 shots twice in matches against Merrimack and Binghamton.
A standout middle blocker from Naperville, Illinois, Oxenknecht helped lead Naperville North High School to three conference championships while earning All-State Honorable Mention recognition as a senior. She also posted an impressive club career during her junior high and high school years, headlined by playing time with the Sports Performance Volleyball Club's 18 Elite First Team, where she earned the 18 Open Division's All-American Award en route to a second place team finish at AAU Nationals.
Oxenknecht was also a four-year honor student at Naperville North, and four-time academic All-Conference honoree.