University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
18-5,12-0MVC
Evansville
4-20,1-11MVC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNI | 25 | 25 | 16 | 26 | 3 |
| Evansville | 23 | 17 | 25 | 24 | 1 |
10/31/2026 9:41:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Dykstra leads UNI offense with 20 kills for second straight match. Panther host Belmont, Southern Illinois next weekend.
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The UNI volleyball team withstood a Halloween challenge from Evansville on Saturday evening, topping the Purple Aces in four sets inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse in Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play.
Despite Evansville dominating the third set, Northern Iowa finished the night hitting .260 as a team with eight blocks and six service aces to improve to 12-0 in league play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UNI established control early in set one, distributing the scoring throughout the lineup with Grace Hannam, Lily Dykstra, Cassidy Hartman and Maryn Bixby all earning terminations en route to a 5-2 lead. With the Purple Aces tying the set at 15-15, Dykstra rallied two more kills, followed by a kill from Hannam and an attack error from Evansville propelled UNI to a 19-15 lead. Evansville would trim the lead to 24-23 at match point, but Dykstra shut the door to award the Panthers set one.
Set two was contested early, with both teams tied at 9-9 nearing the technical timeout. The Panthers would go on 6-1 scoring run, as Dykstra earned three kills and a service ace to give UNI a 15-10 lead. The Purple Aces would trim the lead to 20-15, but UNI would take advantage of two errors from Evansville, followed by two kills from Dykstra to give the Panthers a 25-17 victory in set two.
Evansville would show fight, starting set three with a 6-2 lead. After Hartman earned a block to cut the Evansville lead to one at 10-9, the Purple Aces rallied with an 11-1 scoring run to give them their largest lead of the night at 20-10. UNI would rally three straight kills in the back half of set three, but Evansville shut the door with two straight kills, awarding them a 25-16 win in set three.
Early into set four, both squads were tied four times, including a 12-12 score approaching the later half of the stanza. Hartman and Booth would earn kills during a 5-1 UNI scoring run to make it 17-13. Evansville made things interesting, tying the match at 23 a-piece, but Hartman earned a block assist and a kill to give UNI a narrow 26-24 victory in set four.
Dykstra led the Panthers in kills with 20 on the night with a .366 hitting percentage, four blocks and three aces. Hartman followed with 13 terminations, ten digs and two blocks, as Clubb recorded eight terminations and two blocks. Bixby posted six kills and three blocks, with Hannam also tallying three blocks, as Booth posted a 39 assist night with one ace, and Jaydn Petersen led the team in digs with 16.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UNI is now 64-3 all-time against Evansville and 50-3 under Bobbi Petersen. UNI has won the last nine meetings.
- Northern Iowa extended its program and MVC record conference winning streak (for regular season and postseason matches) to 72 with Saturday's win, the longest active streak in Division I and passing Nebraska's 1982-87 Big Eight Conference streak for the ninth-longest in Division I history.
- The Panthers also captured their 64th straight MVC regular season victory, the longest such active streak in Division I as well.
- Head coach Bobbi Petersen after Saturday's win now sits one win shy of her 400th career win in MVC regular season play.
- UNI is now 33-4 in MVC sets played this year, with its only sets lost this year coming on the road at Southern Illinois (Oct. 10), Indiana State (Oct. 30) and Evansville (Oct. 31). The Panthers are also now 12-0 in first sets played in league play this season.
- UNI improves to 14-2 this season (32-5 all-time) when both Hartman and Dykstra post ten or more kills in the same match (since 2023).
- Hartman jumped to 15th on UNI's all-time kills list on Saturday with 1,233 passing Rachel Tink (2001-04) and Maryellen McCann (1984-87). The reigning MVC Player of the Week also posted her tenth double-double of the season (33rd of career).
- Dykstra recorded her fifth 20+ kill match of the season on Saturday night and second in a row after tallying 20 terminations at Indiana State on Friday. She is now 32 kills away from 1,000 in her career.
- Grace Hannam and Maryn Bixby both have recorded at least two blocks in every match they each have played in this season. Bixby also posted the 200th blocks of her career in the victory.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action next Friday, Nov. 6 when it takes on the Belmont Bruins in MVC action to open the final regular season homestand of the year. 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 Corn Country / Varsity Network app).
Tickets can be purchased through the UNI Ticket Office or by calling 319-273-4849. Fans in attendance are encouraged to wear pink for the team's annual Pink Out Match in support of the fight against breast cancer.
Panther fans are encouraged to arrive early in order to receive a Bobbi Petersen "Bobbi-Head" giveaway while supplies last. UNI students will also be treated to a 1,000 scholarship drawing. A full list of upcoming Panther Promotions can be found HERE.
UNI volleyball action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Volleyball), X (@UNIVolleyball) and on Instagram (@univolleyball). The full schedule and roster, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
