Petersen contract extended through 2028 season

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa --- After coaching the Panthers to their 24th NCAA Tournament berth last fall, UNI head volleyball coach Bobbi Petersen has been awarded a five-year contract extension through the end of the 2028 season, as announced by the UNI Athletic Department on Monday.

The winningest volleyball coach in UNI and Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) history, Petersen has totalled 557 victories in her 23 years at the helm of the program. Since taking over the team full-time in 2001, Petersen has coached the Panthers to 16 of the program's 24 NCAA Tournament appearances and 11 tournament wins, including consecutive Sweet Sixteen berths in 2001 and 2002. Additionally, UNI has won ten MVC regular season and tournament titles during that span.

"When it comes to UNI volleyball, Coach Petersen has set the standard for excellence for well over two decades," said UNI Director of Athletics David Harris. "Not only has she led our program to success on the court, but in the classroom and in our community. We are incredibly grateful for her leadership in making UNI volleyball one of the top programs not just in the MVC, but in the entire nation, and we wish her and her team nothing but success in the years to come!"

The 2022 season was a historic year for the Panthers coming off a difficult 2021 campaign where they missed the MVC Tournament for the first time in program history. UNI rolled to a 27-8 record and 17-1 mark in league play, recording the best single-season turnaround in MVC history thanks to a 17-match winning streak to begin conference action. Four Panthers landed First Team All-MVC honors (Tayler Alden, Sydney Petersen, Inga Rotto, Carly Spies), with Alden earning MVC Setter of the Year recognition and Sydney Petersen being named the MVC Libero of the Year. For the historic turnaround, Petersen was named MVC Coach of the Year for the seventh time in her career, tying a league record for selections. After rallying to win the 2023 MVC Tournament in a five-set thriller over Drake, UNI notched its first NCAA Tournament win since 2017 with a three-set sweep over Florida State.

During her career, Petersen has coached eight MVC Players of the Year, including Molly O'Brien and Bre Payton, who each won the award three straight years during their collegiate careers. In addition to an astonishing 83 All-MVC selections, Petersen has also coached 14 AVCA All-Americans, most recently Karlie Taylor, who earned Honorable Mention recognition in 2019.

"After 23 seasons, I am blessed and thankful to have the opportunity to continue to lead this Panther program built on rich history and tradition and incredible young women who have committed so much of themselves to our Panther volleyball family over many years," said Petersen. "I thank Director of Athletics David Harris, Senior Women's Administrator Stacia Eggers and UNI President Mark Nook for their support of me, our staff and the program. The University of Northern Iowa has been such a large part of not just my life, but the lives of my family for so many years, and I am beyond proud to be part of a highly supportive community. Our coaching staff and student-athletes look forward to representing UNI at the highest levels of the MVC and in the nation!"

A native of Dike, Iowa, Petersen played her collegiate career at UNI from 1986-89 compiling 1,611 kills and 1,457 digs with three all-conference nods during her four-year run as a Panther attacker. She was named the 1992 Gateway Conference's Volleyball Athlete of the Year and later to the MVC All-Centennial Team in 2006. Petersen has also been inducted into the UNI Athletics Hall of Fame three times, first as a student-athlete in 2003, as an assistant coach with the 1999 UNI volleyball team and as head coach of the 2001 team.

Petersen graduated from UNI in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in therapeutic recreation and again in 1992 with a master's degree in physical education, where she served as a graduate assistant with her former team. After later joining the Panther staff as an assistant coach, she was named acting head coach for UNI in 1997 as Iradge Ahrabi-Fard was named a consultant to USA Volleyball. Petersen would go 18-9 filling in for her former college coach, leading the Panthers to a second place finish in the MVC. She would go on to succeed Ahrabi-Fard after his retirement following the 2000 season.

Petersen currently resides in Dike, Iowa with her husband, former UNI football player Duane Petersen. She has two sets of twin daughters (Baylee and Sydney; Jadyn and Payton). Baylee played volleyball for UNI from 2018 to 2022, while Sydney joined the Panther roster in 2022 after four seasons at Texas.

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