2023-24 UNI Volleyball Highlight Video
2023 Season
Panthers secured back-to-back MVC regular season and tournament titles, won 21 consecutive matches
and reached the NCAA Tournament for the 25th time in school history.
The Panthers' run through the 18-match MVC schedule was historic as UNI defeated all 18 league opponents in four sets or fewer, securing the conference's first undefeated regular season since 2018 and the first for the purple and gold since 2011. Northern Iowa also became the MVC's first repeat regular season champion since Missouri State won back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017.
In the MVC Tournament in Springfield, Missouri, the Panthers took down third-seeded Southern Illinois to claim the program's 1,200th all-time win in the semifinals, before holding off Drake in the championship match for a second straight year in a five-set thriller. UNI's victory secured the program's 19th MVC Tournament championship and 25th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. For their efforts in Springfield, Erin Powers and Kira Fallert were named to the MVC All-Tournament Team, joining tournament most valuable player Tayler Alden. Fallert was also named the recipient of the league's Elite 17 Award for a second consecutive year, given to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average competing in the championship round.
For the first time since the implementation of regional seeding in the NCAA Tournament, the Panthers were seeded eighth and paired with Miami (FL) in the first round of the national tournament, visiting Madison, Wisconsin. UNI's season would come to an end at the UW Field House in the opening round in a 3-1 loss to the Hurricanes.
Despite coming up short in the NCAA Tournament, Northern Iowa's run through the MVC regular season and conference tournament produced a 21-match winning streak, tied for eighth-longest in school history, as well as tied for the fourth-longest stretch for the Panthers under head coach Bobbi Petersen. At one point, UNI's 2023 winning streak ranked as the fifth-longest active streak in all of Division I volleyball.
2023 Season Awards
- Alden made her mark in her final year as a Panther, becoming the first player in MVC history to repeat as the conference's setter of the year. She finishes her career seventh all-time in assists (4,074), with 42 double-doubles and six triple-doubles. Season honors included: AVCA All America Honorable Mention, AVCA All-Midwest Region First-Team, MVC Setter of the Year for the second year in a row, First Team All-MVC, MVC All-Tournament Team & MVP, First Team Academic All-District, and MVC Scholar-Athlete First-Team. Alden finishes her career seventh all-time in assists.
- Emily Holterhaus Holterhaus closed out her collegiate volleyball career in record setting fashion, breaking the program's all-time attack attempts record (4,771) and finishing second in school history in sets played (561) and matches played (156) and fourth all-time in terminations (1,631) and sixth in points (1,867). Season honors included: AVCA All-Midwest Region Honorable Mention, First Team All-MVC, MVC Scholar Athlete of the Year & MVC Scholar Athlete First Team, and First Team Academic All-District.
- Layanna Green enjoyed a breakout season in 2023 with 260 kills and 83 total blocks. Her career attack percentage of .385 currently ranks second-best among all Panthers in school history with at least 200 attempts, while also setting a new program record for sophomore attackers. Green's .400 attack percentage on the season was the best single-season mark in recorded program history. Season honors included: AVCA All-Midwest Region Honorable Mention, and MVC First Team.
- Kira Fallert ranked second on the UNI roster with 400 terminations, plus 319 digs and 45 blocks on the year. She recorded a season-best 24 kills in a home win over Indiana State and posted her 19th career double-double during the season. Season honors include: Second Team All-MVC, MVC Elite 17 Award, MVC All-Tournament Team, MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team, and First Team Academic All-District.
- Erin Powers made an immediate impact for the Panther defense, leading UNI in 2023 in digs (552), along with 49 service aces, the most by a UNI player since 2006. Her 4.82 digs per set average this season ranks ninth-best among single-season results, and is also currently the second-best UNI career average in school history. Season honors included: Second Team All-MVC, MVC All-Tournament Team, MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team, and First Team Academic All-District.
- Bobbi Petersen continued to make history, becoming the first coach in league history to be named MVC Coach of the Year for a record eighth time, breaking a tie with her predecessor and former head coach Iradge Ahrabi-Fard. During her now 24 seasons as UNI's head coach, the Panthers have 583 career victories, 17 NCAA Tournament bids, 11 MVC regular season championships and 11 MVC Tournament crowns.
MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year
AVCA All Region
Photo Gallery
Impressive History of the UNI Volleyball Program
- UNI has won a total of 19 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championships and 21 Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season Championships
- 25 NCAA tournament appearances & has advanced at least to the second round 13 times
- 3 NCAA Sweet 16 appearances
- The 2023 season marked the 39th 20-win season
- Only UNI, Hawaii, Nebraska, Stanford, Penn State, and UCLA have had over 40 consecutive non-losing seasons in NCAA Division I women’s volleyball
- UNI posted 35 consecutive NCAA Division I winning seasons - and was the sixth-longest active streak in the nation behind Hawaii (38), Nebraska (38), Penn State (38), Stanford (38), and UCLA (36)
- UNI has been ranked in 119 polls in AVCA Top 25 history featuring 25 appearances in the Top 10 and appeared in the polls in both 2018 and 2019
- 136 All-MVC selections including 92 All-MVC First-Team selections, 14 MVC Players of the Year, and 16 MVC Tournament MVP's
- 41 Panthers have been voted to the AVCA’s all-district or all-region teams
- 18 AVCA All-America honors
- Bobbi Petersen - National Coach of the Year (2002); Central Region Coach of the Year (2001, 2002, 2018, 2019); MVC Coach of the Year (2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2019, 2022, 2023)
- UNI has ranked in the top-25 in home attendance in 21 of the last 24 seasons
2022 UNI Volleyball Documentary - Filmed/Edited by Ryan Schmidt
Check out this wonderful documentary detailing our historic 2022 season with player interviews and never-before-seen footage put together by former UNI student Ryan Schmidt.