University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
24-5,16-0MVC
Illinois State
14-16,8-8MVC
Panther volleyball punches ticket to MVC Tournament title match with win over Redbirds
11/22/2025 9:48:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Bobbi Petersen passes Bakley as UNI’s overall leader in wins by a women’s coach as Panthers move on to conference championship match.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — UNI volleyball withstood a key test by Illinois State on Saturday night, outlasting the Redbirds in five sets in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Tournament semifinals inside the McLeod Center.
Northern Iowa's victory propels the four-time defending MVC regular season champions into their fourth straight conference tournament title match after a stellar game offensively by Lily Dykstra and Cassidy Hartman, while UNI's blocking defense racked up 15 blocks in the win.
The victory also gives Panther head coach Bobbi Petersen her 633rd career win, moving her ahead of former UNI softball coach Meredith Bakley as the university's overall winningest women's coach.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UNI opened the night with a strong 8-2 scoring run and led by as many as eight points in the first frame. The Redbirds would storm back however on .265 hitting and 19 team terminations to tie the match at 19-19 using a 4-0 run and ultimately pull out a 25-23 set victory. Northern Iowa hit .250 with 14 team kills in the opening set, led by four terminations by Dykstra, three kills each by Hartman and Isabelle Elliott, while Maryn Bixby notched two blocks.
Northern Iowa led for all but two points in the second stanza, responding to a strong first frame by Illinois State with 14 team terminations on .222 hitting. UNI scored four in a row after an opening point win by the Redbirds and never looked back, battling through Illinois State's scrappy defensive play for a 25-18 win. Reese Booth and Hartman both tallied aces for the Panthers, with Dykstra adding four terminations to her total in helping UNI even the match at one set a piece.
After falling behind 6-2 to the Redbirds in the fourth set, the Panthers responded and took the lead with a 5-0 run and never looked back, battling through a tough set offensively and capitalizing on Illinois State errors. Dykstra added four more terminations to her total with Hartman and Lindsay Oldendorf each recording two blocks.
UNI and Illinois State changed leads nine times and faced 17 ties in the fourth frame in a back-and-forth set that tested both teams. The Panthers would take a brief lead at 19-18 and pulled even at 23-23, but would be unable to finish the set as the Redbirds scored on the final two points for a 25-23 win to force a decisive fifth set. Northern Iowa hit .182 with 15 kills, with Dykstra totalling seven terminations in the frame, as well as five by Hartman.
The Panthers commanded the fifth frame, leading from start to finish after a 4-0 scoring run to open the set. UNI notched a .556 hitting clip with a pair of kills from Hartman and Dykstra and one from Molly Shafer, all while capitalizing off six Redbird attack errors. Northern Iowa would close on an 8-0 to take the decisive set by a score of 15-5 and clinch the match in a competitive two hour, 25 minute contest,
Dykstra finished the night with a career-high tying 21 kills, with Hartman posting a 14 kill, ten dig double-double with three blocks. Molly Shafer tallied nine terminations and a career-high 11 digs while also tying her career-high with four blocks, while Elliott notched six kills and four blocks. Oldendorf recorded five kills with a career-high three solo blocks and a career-high tying nine total blocks, as Bixby posted three kills and six blocks. Sydney Golden led UNI with 21 assists in the win, with Booth notching 19 assists and 18 digs from Jadyn Petersen.
I'm really proud of the composure that our kids had tonight, said Coach Petersen. We talk about one point at a time, not just when things aren't going well, but when they are going well too. Playing in the championship isn't something given to us, we had to earn it.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UNI improves to 63-30 with its eighth consecutive win over Illinois State. The Panthers are also now 14-4 against the Redbirds in the MVC Tournament.
- Saturday's victory was UNI's 57th all-time win in the MVC Tournament, extending its own conference record.
- The Panthers improve to 27-13 all-time in the semifinal round of the MVC Tournament.
- Northern Iowa clinches its 27th all-time appearance in the Gateway/MVC Tournament championship match. The Panthers are 20-6 in the title match all-time.
- The Panthers have won 59 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.
- UNI extends its overall winning streak to 20 matches, seventh-longest in team history.
- The Panther defense has posted ten or more blocks in four consecutive matches and at least nine blocks in nine of their last 13 matches.
- Lily Dykstra posted her third match of 20+ kills this season and her 18th contest this year with at least eight terminations.
- Cassidy Hartman recorded her 20th career double-double and 13th of the year.
UNI All-Time Wins List (All Sports)
1. Peter Mazula (Men's & Women's Tennis) - 725
2. Bobbi Petersen (Volleyball) - 633
3. Meredith Bakley (Softball) - 632
4. Ryan Jacobs (Softball) - 529
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 25 as they host third-seeded Drake in the MVC Tournament championship match with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT at the McLeod Center with live coverage available 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.
