University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
16-5,9-0MVC
Illinois State
8-13,3-6MVC
Panther volleyball posts sixth straight sweep with win over Illinois State
10/24/2025 8:25:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
UNI moves to 9-0 at midway point of MVC play. Panthers host Indiana State on Saturday afternoon.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Maryn Bixby recorded another career performance on Friday night as the UNI volleyball team swept the Illinois State Redbirds for its 12th consecutive win of the year inside the McLeod Center in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play.
The Panthers notched their third consecutive match with a hitting percentage over .300 and rallied from a third set deficit to grab their sixth straight three-set victory. UNI moved to 9-0 at the midway point of league play and have now won 45 straight matches against MVC opponents in the regular season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UNI's offense hummed to the tune of 16 team terminations on .464 hitting in the first set, pulling away from the Redbirds after a hotly contested start to the opening frame. Using a 5-0 run, Northern Iowa pulled away with service aces in the set from Sydney Golden and Taryn Rice. Bixby racked up six first set kills, including four terminations from Cassidy Hartman and three from Isabelle Elliott as UNI took the first set by a score of 25-18.
Northern Iowa dominated the second stanza, scoring the first four points, which included an ace by Reese Booth. Capitalizing off ten Redbird attack errors, the Panthers racked up 11 kills on .360 hitting while putting on a strong blocking performance, led by four blocks from Bixby and three stops by Elliott. With Elliott and Hartman each adding four terminations to their totals and Illinois State hitting -.062 in the set, UNI took a two set to none lead in the match with a 25-13 win.
Illinois State led for a large portion of the third set with the Panthers rallying late. In a frame that saw 11 ties and seven lead changes, UNI tallied 17 terminations on .200 hitting with Jadyn Petersen adding a late service ace to aid in the Panther comeback. The Redbirds would reach set point before Northern Iowa forced bonus ball and closed the set with three straight points to complete the 3-0 sweep by a score of 26-24. Lily Dykstra led UNI with five kills in the final frame with four kills a piece from both Bixby and Hartman.
Bixby finished the night with a career-high 14 kills while also tying her career-high with six blocks. Hartman tallied 12 terminations and nine digs in the victory, as Dykstra finished with six kills. Elliott posted five terminations and five blocks, while Molly Shafer and Kaitlyn Sellner each recorded three kills. Booth led with 18 assists with Golden posting 14 assists, with Petersen notching a team-high 13 digs.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UNI improves to 62-30 all-time against Illinois State with its seventh consecutive win over the Redbirds. The Panthers are also now 32-11 against Illinois State at home.
- The Panthers have now won 45 straight matches in MVC regular season play dating back to the start of the 2023 conference schedule, the third-longest such streak in program history and the third-longest active streak in Division I volleyball. The Panthers have also won 51 straight matches over MVC challengers in both the regular season and postseason (longest active streak in Division I). Northern Iowa's last loss to a conference opponent came in the 2022 regular season finale at Drake.
- In addition to UNI's match winning streak, the Panthers have also won 19 consecutive sets dating back to the fourth frame of their Sept. 30 match at Drake.
- Head coach Bobbi Petersen is now just eight wins shy of passing former UNI softball coach Meredith Bakley as the university's all-time winningest female coach, as well as the school second-winningest coach of all-time for any sport.
- Northern Iowa has posted a hitting percentage of .300 or better in three consecutive matches for the first time since October 2023 against Evansville, Indiana State, Missouri State and Southern Illinois.
- UNI's defense has posted seven or more blocks in each of its last nine matches.
- Setters Sydney Golden and Reese Booth are both on the doorstep of becoming the latest members of UNI's 1,000 career assist club. Golden is 15 assists away after Friday's match while Booth is 16 assists shy of the milestone.
- Cassidy Hartman has recorded ten or more kills in 16 of the Panthers' 21 matches this season. Hartman is also two kills shy of 700 for her career.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action on Saturday afternoon when they host the Indiana State Sycamores inside the McLeod Center. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT with live coverage available on ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network (106.5 FM Corn Country / 93.5 HD-2).
Tickets for Saturday's match, as well as single-match and season tickets for the 2025 volleyball season can be purchased online through the UNI Ticket Office, by calling 319-273-4849 or through email at tickets@uni.edu.
Saturday's match will celebrate Educator Appreciation Night with any educator receiving free admission to the match by showing their employee ID. Saturday will also be the Panthers' School Supply Drive with free admission for fans who donate $5 or more worth of school supplies.
UNI volleyball action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Volleyball), X (@UNIVolleyball) and on Instagram (@univolleyball). The full 2025 schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
