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UNI volleyball honored with All-MVC recognition for 2023 season
11/18/2023 9:30:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Panthers earn three First Team All-MVC selections and two Second Team honorees. Alden named Setter of the Year and Petersen Coach of the Year.
ST. LOUIS --- The 2023 Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) regular season champion UNI volleyball team was recognized for its undefeated run through league play on Saturday morning as the league office announced its all-conference teams and specialty awards.
Tayler Alden, Layanna Green and Emily Holterhaus made up a trio of Panthers voted First Team All-MVC, while Kira Fallert and Erin Powers were named Second Team All-MVC. In addition to first team all-league honors, Alden was named MVC Setter of the Year for a second consecutive year, while Bobbi Petersen set a new conference record with her eighth MVC Coach of the Year award.
Northern Iowa posted a perfect 18-0 record in MVC play this season to become the first MVC program to win back-to-back regular season championships since Missouri State in 2016 and 2017. The Panthers have now won 21 regular season titles in the MVC and 11 in the Bobbi Petersen era.
UNI, who has won 19-consecutive matches dating back to mid-September, will face off against either Southern Illinois, Valparaiso or Belmont in the semifinal round of the MVC Tournament on Tuesday, November 21 at 3 p.m. CT in Springfield, Missouri.
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TAYLER ALDEN - First Team All-MVC and Setter of the Year
Alden's selection as MVC Setter of the Year marks the first repeat award winner in conference history. In her selection for the honor in 2022, Alden joined elite company as the third individual in UNI history to win the honor, with the Panthers also becoming the only school to have three different recipients for the award (Heather Hook, 2017 / Rachel Koop, 2019). Alden posted 10.4 assists per set during the 2023 season, the second-highest average in the conference and also posted a .315 hitting percentage, the best mark among MVC setters to compliment 150 terminations on the year. The Oconomowoc, Wisconsin native earned First Team All-MVC recognition in 2022, and was voted the MVC Freshman of the Year back during the spring 2021 season.
KIRA FALLET - Second Team All-MVC
Fallert picks up her first all-conference honor since being named to the MVC All-Freshman Team in 2021 with 347 total kills, a 3.4 kills per set average and a .227 hitting percentage this fall. She also notched 27 service aces, 287 digs (2.8 per set) and 40 blocks during her junior campaign. Accounting for four points per set this year, Fallert ranked ninth in the league.
LAYANNA GREEN - First Team All-MVC
Appearing in her first full season of action, Green took the MVC by storm for her first all-conference honor with the league's second-highest hitting clip of .398 with 236 kills on 457 attempts, ranking in the top-25 nationally. A force on both defensive and offensive, Green posted 74 blocks and averaged 2.3 kills per frame after making her collegiate debut just last season in one appearance.
EMILY HOLTERHAUS - First Team All-MVC
Holterhaus earns her second First Team All-MVC honor and first since the spring 2021 season after a record-setting year with the Panthers. Leading the purple and gold with 376 kills (3.7 per set) and points per set (4.1), the Pella, Iowa native set Northern Iowa's all-time attack attempts record in a November road win at Valparaiso and moved into UNI's top-five list for career kills. Holterhaus has never missed a match in her career with 153 appearances and 549 sets played, both ranking second in program history.
ERIN POWERS - Second Team All-MVC
No stranger to elite defensive play, Powers grabs her first-ever All-MVC honor after joining the Panthers as a transfer from UAB. The Mukwonago,Wisconsin product led the UNI backline with 498 digs on the year and a 4.8 digs per set average, and dished out a team high 45 service aces, third-most in the MVC this season. Powers also recorded her 1,500th career dig in an October home win over Bradley.
BOBBI PETERSEN - MVC Coach of the Year
Petersen, the UNI and MVC all-time wins leader with 581 career victories, earns her record-breaking eighth MVC Coach of the Year honor in 2023, breaking a tie with her former head coach and Panther predecessor Iradge Ahrabi-Fard. Under Petersen's leadership, Northern Iowa recorded its tenth all-time unbeaten conference record, and did not play a single five-set match against an MVC opponent, a first since 2010.
