University of Northern Iowa Athletics
Lily Dykstra earns MVC Player of the Week honors
11/10/2025 2:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
ST. LOUIS --- UNI junior outside hitter Lily Dykstra has been named the Missouri Valley Conference's (MVC) Player of the Week for volleyball, as announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.
The selection comes for the Urbandale, Iowa native after posting a pair of double-digit kill performances in home victories over Drake and UIC, helping UNI improve to 14-0 in league play and capture the program's 23rd MVC regular season championship. This marks Dykstra's first career weekly conference honor
Northern Iowa is currently in the midst of a 17-match winning streak, tied for the second-longest in Division I, while also having won 50 consecutive regular season matches against MVC opponents, the third-longest such streak in program history and the second-longest active streak in the nation.
Ranking second in the conference with four kills per set, Dykstra set a new career-high with 21 kills against Drake along with five blocks. She also notched 18 terminations against UIC while hitting .392 on 79 attack attempts. Dykstra has recorded at least eight kills in all but two matches this year and was also named to the All-Tournament teams in the non-conference portion of the season at the Bluejay Invitational and Capital Credit Union Classic.
Dykstra's selection is the ninth MVC weekly award of the season for the Panthers, who have also seen Cassidy Hartman be named MVC Player of the Week three times, Maryn Bixby the MVC Freshman of the Week three times and Jadyn Petersen the league's defensive player of the week twice.
In addition to Hartman, UIC's Hannah Ditsworth was named MVC Defensive Player of the Week, while Belmont's Jordan Czajkowski earned MVC Freshman of the Week honors.
Dykstra and the Panthers return to action on Friday night at Murray State at 6 p.m. CT. Live coverage of the match can be found on ESPN+ and the Panther Sports Radio Network (106.5 FM Corn Country / 93.5 HD-2).
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.
