University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
2-2,0-0MVC
SMU
4-0,0-0ACC
UNI volleyball falls at No. 11 SMU
9/5/2025 8:48:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Panthers drop to 2-2 on the season. UNI takes on Washington on Saturday morning to round out southern road trip.
DALLAS — The UNI volleyball team faced a tough test on Friday night as the Panthers fell to No. 11 SMU on the road at Moody Coliseum in their second match of the 2025 DoubleTree Invitational in north Texas.
Struggling to break through a talented Mustang blocking defense, Northern Iowa was outblocked by a 15-2 margin by SMU and was held to a season-low .027 hitting percentage by their Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) challenger. The Panthers fall to 2-2 on the young season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UNI ran into a tough early challenge from the Mustang defense, which racked up four blocks in the opening set. Scoring off three SMU service errors, the Panthers maintained a steady pace with the high-powered Mustangs, but struggled to overcome nine attack errors in the set despite ten team kills. Jadyn Petersen and Lily Dykstra both dished out aces for Northern Iowa with Dykstra leading the way with four terminations in the opening frame as SMU took set one by a score of 25-19.
Northern Iowa jumped out to an early 3-1 lead on the Mustangs in the second stanza, but would be unable to slow the SMU offense, which rattled off a 6-0 scoring run to take a 9-5 lead. With both Cassidy Hartman and Dykstra adding four terminations to her each of their respective totals, the Panthers tallied 12 kills on .068 hitting in the set, but continued to struggle to break through the Mustang blocking defense with nine team attack errors in a 25-16 set loss.
UNI and SMU split the first six points of the third set before the Mustangs took solid control, using a 10-0 run to take a 13-3 lead on the Panthers. With SMU hitting .355 with 13 team kills, Northern Iowa was held to a negative team hitting clip of -.026 with nine terminations and ten attack errors, led by three kills from Dykstra and two each from Hartman, Isabelle Elliott and Calia Clubb in a 25-13 loss.
Dykstra led the Panthers with a match-high 12 kills plus five digs, while Hartman finished with seven terminations and five digs. Clubb tallied four kills and Bixby with three kills and four digs, as Lindsay Oldendorf and Elliott both notched two terminations. Reese Booth dished out 16 assists, while Kate Shafer posted a nine-assist, seven digs performance. Petersen led the way for UNI with 12 digs.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UNI falls to 0-3 all-time against SMU in the first meeting between the two programs in Dallas. The Mustangs won the first two meetings of the series last season in Cedar Falls.
- Northern Iowa is now 9-17 under head coach Bobbi Petersen in its first true road match of the season.
- The Panthers are now 25-94 all-time against opponents ranked in the AVCA top-25 poll. UNI's last top-25 win came in 2018 against No. 5 Kentucky in Los Angeles
- .UNI falls to 16-10 all-time in matches against ACC opponents, and 12-8 against the ACC under Coach Petersen.
- Lily Dykstra notched her ninth career match and third of this season with ten or more kills.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action tomorrow morning as they face off against the Washington Huskies to close out the DoubleTree Invitational. First serve between UNI and the Huskies is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT at Moody Coliseum with live coverage available on the Panther Sports Radio Network.
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.
