With two wins against Illinois State and Bradley, UNI volleyball head coach Bobbi Petersen is now the all-time wins leader in program history with 504 career victories, passing her former coach and mentor Iradge Ahrabi-Ford.

“I wouldn’t have this opportunity without Iradge,” Petersen said.

“He’s the one that recruited me as a student-athlete and was a huge mentor for me during that time.”

On top of Petersen’s historic achievement, defeating Illinois State 3-1 and Bradley 3-2 over the weekend also moves the Panthers to 20-9 overall and 14-1 in the conference. 

The Panther defense came out strong against the Redbirds with 21 total blocks in their highest mark of the season. They finished the night with five solo blocks and 16 block assists.

“Our team’s ability to have people step in and if we get a good block touch or get a dig, step in and put the ball in front of somebody,” Petersen said.

Senior Karlie Taylor led the team in kills with 22 and recorded 23 digs, followed by Kaylissa Arndorfer with 12 kills. 

Saturday night saw the Panthers battle the Braves in five sets to come out on top.

The Purple and Gold recorded 72 kills with Inga Rotto leading in kills and blocks with 19 kills and ten blocks.

Taylor had another strong showing with 14 kills, moving her to third all-time in career kills, and Abbi Staack led the Panthers with 26 digs. 

“I still think we have room for improvement and ways we can still be better so it’s a pretty exciting time,” Petersen said.

Next, the Panthers will travel to Des Moines for a match against Drake University on Friday, Nov. 15 in their 23-match winning streak against the Bulldogs.