UNI volleyball enters NCAA tournament on 21-match winning streak

CEDAR FALLS — The Northern Iowa volleyball team enters the 2023 NCAA tournament with one of the more decorated resumes in the 64-teams in the field.

The Panthers (26-6, 18-0) begin tournament play at 5 p.m. Thursday in Madison, Wis., against Miami (Fla.) (17-11, 10-8) on a 21-match winning streak, the fourth longest in Division I and the program’s longest since 2011.

That winning streak has included a perfect record in the Missouri Valley Conference, as well as a five-set win against Drake in the MVC tournament championship last Wednesday.

UNI also boasts an RPI of 29, a 7-4 record against top-100 opponents and leads the nation in kills (14.97) and assists (13.93) per set.

That resume ultimately led to the Panthers receiving their first regional seed, No. 8, in a pod that includes a top-seed in Wisconsin taking on Jackson State at 7:30 Thursday night.

“Incredibly excited to be one of the 64 teams headed to the NCAA tournament,” UNI Coach Bobbi Petersen said. “We’re excited, obviously, having a seed this year was really cool. I don’t know how much of a difference it makes, but I do think it’s a testament to the work that our team and our staff has put in this season, so really proud of that.”

UNI enters Thursday’s match with just two seniors on its roster — Emily Holterhaus and Kaylissa Arndorfer.

Both have been key components to this season’s success and Petersen said she tries to keep the nature of her communication, even toward seniors, as familiar as possible despite the circumstances.

“It’s tough because you try not to make it bigger than what it is,” Petersen said. “I think sometimes our players do a good enough job of putting an amount of pressure on themselves. We just try to make it all about being in the moment, because it’s really special.

“(We’re) talking a lot about that, just going out there and enjoying this opportunity together, wherever it ends up.”

Thursday’s match will mark the 17th time in Petersen’s 24-year tenure she’s coached UNI in the NCAA tournament. That bevy of experience has made her well aware of the heightened importance of the serve and pass games in the win or go home tournament environment.

“Watching video is great, but the speed at which the ball comes, the float on the serve — there’s things like that you can’t really tell from video,” she said. “So, I think in volleyball the serve and pass game is the biggest part of the game. Because a lot of people can score if they’re in system. And I feel like that has been a strength for us throughout the conference season.”

The Hurricanes finished sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference and have an experienced roster, highlighted by left-handed outside hitter Grace Lopez, who led the ACC in kills per set this season.

“It looks like they run a very fast offense,” Petersen said. “They have several players who are (graduate) players, so they’re a very talented, very veteran team. I do think some things they do offensively are very similar to Drake.”