UNI volleyball standout Emily Holterhaus becomes a midseason addition for UNI women’s basketball

CEDAR FALLS — Northern Iowa women’s basketball already has endured a season’s worth of adversity.

Injuries to All-Missouri Valley Conference returnees Maya McDermott and Grace Boffeli made a difficult non-conference schedule even more daunting, leading to an uncharacteristic 1-8 start.

With a team searching for any positive momentum, Coach Tanya Warren’s open mind created just that when she added standout UNI volleyball player Emily Holterhaus to the roster.

Holterhaus — a 6-foot-2 All-MVC outside hitter — was looking for a way to stay active with her volleyball career completed, the first domino that led to her becoming a Division I multisport student-athlete.

“She reached out and asked if she could be a practice player,” Warren said. “She came to practice and I was like, hmm, ‘(do) you have any interest in joining the team?’ She was like, ‘are you serious?’ I said, ‘yeah, I’m serious.’”

Knowing first hand how intimate team cultures are, Holterhaus told Warren she wanted to speak to the team’s captains before saying yes. Once she did, the comfort was quickly there to begin her collegiate basketball career.

“I just wanted to get the OK from them and I wanted their support, because adding a member to your team will change things up a bit,” Holterhaus said. “So, I didn’t want to be stepping on any toes or bring anything negative to the team at all.”

Holterhaus was an accomplished basketball player as a prep at Pella High School. She broke a number of school records, including the program’s career rebounding record. She also scored more than 1,000 points in her career.

“What a great addition for us for a variety of reasons,” Warren said. “Emily brings championship pedigree. She’s a great teammate. She’s extremely coachable. I’m a little surprised (with) her productivity because she hasn’t been with us that long.

“But, again, that just shows the type of athlete she is, the type of competitor she is.”

The productivity Warren references was an 11-point debut for Holterhaus in the Panthers’ 82-52 win against Evansville last Thursday.

Holterhaus added three rebounds, was 2-for-2 at the free-throw line and 1-for-2 from 3-point range. Perhaps most impressive was her providing all that production in just 12 minutes off the bench.

“I was definitely nervous going into the game, but the team and the coaches are just such good supporters of me just up and joining them,” Holterhaus said. “Before the game I was just thinking if I did happen to go in (to) just go out and have fun and just give my best effort, because that effort is at this point all I can really control.”

While the production has gotten off to a great start, Holterhaus admits she’s had to ask questions about game plans. What doesn’t come with questions is her understanding of the role she can play to bring the most value to the team.

“A big role of mine is whenever I get in, just being a great rebounder and putting very intentional effort into that. Especially with Grace Bofelli being out,” Holterhaus said. “And then just working really hard on defense and then letting whatever offensive (production) happen.”

UNI (4-9, 3-1 MVC) hosts Murray State (12-2, 5-0) at 6 p.m. Friday.