University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
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Arizona State
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UNI volleyball drops season opener to No. 13 Arizona State
8/29/2025 8:56:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Panthers swept on opening night by reigning Big 12 champions. UNI hosts South Dakota State on Saturday in McLeod Center.
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Four Panthers made their collegiate volleyball debuts on Friday night as the UNI Panthers came up short in a 3-0 loss to No. 13 and reigning Big 12 Conference champion Arizona State to open the 2025 season inside the McLeod Center.
Maryn Bixby, Jadyn Petersen, Isabelle Elliott and Kate Shafer all made their NCAA debuts, while transfer Lindsay Oldendorf made her UNI debut in a match where the Panthers struggled to break through the Sun Devil blocking defense, being outblocked by a 10-0 margin and being held themselves to a .151 hitting percentage.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UNI opened the match on a 3-0 scoring run but quickly faced a tough test from the Arizona State blocking defense, which racked up three blocks in the opening frame. Falling behind by as many as seven points, the Panthers stormed back thanks to six first set kills by Lily Dykstra and four from Bixby to close the gap on the Sun Devils. Northern Iowa, which tallied 17 kills on .250 hitting, would twice pull within one point at 20-19 and 24-23, but would fall short of bonus fall after a successful ASU challenge gave the Sun Devils a 25-23 win.
In the second stanza, both the Panthers and Sun Devils exchanged points early before Arizona State used an 8-0 scoring run to take firm control of the set after UNI pulled within one point at 8-7. Dykstra continued to help pace the offense alongside Cassidy Hartman, Calia Clubb and Bixby, but seven Northern Iowa attack errors plagued the Panthers in a 25-16 set loss as UNI racked up 12 kills on a .125 hitting clip.
Arizona State started the third set with a strong 5-1 scoring run before the Panthers clawed back to tie the frame up at 10-10 and 12-12 on a number of Sun Devil attack errors and UNI kills. The Sun Devils would close strong however on the Panthers with 16 kills on a .308 hitting percentage, slowing UNI's third set momentum and handing Northern Iowa a 25-15 set loss to complete the three-set sweep.
Dykstra finished the night with a team-high 13 kills on a career-high 34 attacks and four digs, with Clubb notching eight terminations, Hartman six kills and 11 digs and both Bixby and Isabelle Elliott with four kills each. Reese Booth tallied a team-high 18 assists with seven digs, while Kate Shafer posted 13 assists and six digs. Jadyn Petersen also added 11 digs for the UNI defense.
"Obviously when you have someone like Arizona State putting that much pressure on you, it's difficult to scout them," head coach Bobbi Petersen said after the match. "I thought Calia came in during her first real opportunity and did some things that we were really excited to see, as well as Kate for the role she played. There were a lot of great things, but also a lot to work on and the crazy part is we play a really good South Dakota State team tomorrow, so you have to lick your wounds and be able to move on."
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UNI falls to 0-4 all-time against the Sun Devils with Friday's loss, the first time the two programs have met in Cedar Falls.
- The Panthers drop to 17-9 in regular season opening matches and 15-11 in home openers under head coach Bobbi Petersen (1997; 2001-pres.). Friday's match marked just the third time Northern Iowa has opened the season at home since 1990 (1990, 2007, 2025).
- Friday's loss snaps UNI's 18-match regular season winning streak dating back to last season, the ninth-longest such streak in program history. The loss also snapped the Panthers three match winning streak against Big 12 opponents.
- Lily Dykstra recorded her sixth career match with ten or more kills in a match against Arizona State on Friday.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action late Saturday afternoon as they take on the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT inside the McLeod Center.
Those attending Saturday's UNI football game against Butler can receive free admission to the match by presenting their football ticket at the gate. Due to the home football game, Saturday's match will not be televised.
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.
