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UNI campus busy with volleyball, basketball, football

December 2, 2011 By

The University of Northern Iowa volleyball team will be just one part of a busy weekend in Cedar Falls. The Panthers open up their sixth straight trip to the NCAA tournament when they face Niagara tonight at the McLeod Center.

U.N.I. coach Bobbi Petersen says her team has worked hard for its success. The Panthers are 32-1 on the year and carry the sixth overall seed into this weekend’s first-round match. This is the third straight year the Panthers have earned the Missouri Valley’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and it’s their third straight perfect season in conference play.

The U.N.I. campus will also play host to a men’s basketball game, a playoff football game and a wrestling tournament tomorrow, in addition to the NCAA volleyball tournament. Petersen says there’s plenty of stress to go around, and plenty of excitement.

The winner of tonight’s match will face either Missouri or Florida on Saturday night in Cedar Falls.

By Austin Draude, KLMJ, Hampton

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UNI hosts ISU in volleyball

September 13, 2011 By

The U.N.I. volleyball team will be looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season when they host in-state rival Iowa State at the McLeod Center tonight. At 9-0, the Cyclones are off to their best start in program history. Panther coach Bobbi Petersen says that Iowa State is a very good team in all phases of the game.

She says offensively you can’t focus on two or three players, as they all can put the ball away. Petersen says the Cyclones are a very good blocking team. The Panthers suffered their first setback of the season in a five set loss to #6 Minnesota on Saturday.

Petersen says she’s confident in how her team will respond to that defeat given how close they were to pulling out the victory. She says they probably learned more in the loss than they have in their wins. She says they were in the match and didn’t execute a few things, so they still have confidence.

Petersen says U.N.I.’s serving and passing will have to be better against the Cyclones, as she says that’s been their most inconsistent are this season. U.N.I. is 15th ranked nationally while the Cyclones are ranked 12th.

By Jesse Gavin KCNZ Cedar Falls

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Iowa City West student dies in moped accident

August 12, 2011 By

An Iowa City West student who was a volleyball player died in a moped crash in Coraville Thursday.

Iowa City police say 17-year-old Caroline Found of Iowa City lost control of the moped, went up the curb, and struck a tree in the median.

Police say she died on impact, and was not wearing a helmet. Found was a setter for the team that won its first state title last season.

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State volleyball tournament looking for a one year home

January 18, 2011 By

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union needs to find a place to host the 2011 state volleyball tournament. Renovations to the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids are forcing officials to move the event. IGHSAU Executive Director Mike Dick says that the Union was originally told that renovations would not impact the volleyball tourney, but they were told on December 8 that the renovation would not be delayed.

After finding out December that the U.S. Cellular Center would not be available, Dick says that the Union heard from facilities and communities across the state that were interested in becoming State Volleyball’s new home. He says they started looking for alternatives and looking at costs, and some cities even called them.

Dick says that one of the first phone calls he made was to former Girls Union Executive Director Troy Dannen, who is now the Athletic Director at the University of Northern Iowa. He says they were willing to see what might be available, but he says there was the disadvantage of having the state football playoffs in Cedar Falls at the same time, which would make for less parking.

One option would be to keep the tournament in Cedar Rapids, but move the event to the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. Dick says that venue wouldn’t be perfect, but could be a workable alternative for 2011. He says it is a nice facility that could be workable for one year.

Dick says that after touring the Ice Arena, he believes the odds are good that it will host the tournament next year. He says had they viewed it and thought it wouldn’t work, they would have said it was not the place. Dick says it has lockerrooms and parking and many positives that the staff thinks would work for the one year

The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union’s Board of Directors will likely decide where to hold the 2011 tournament during their meeting Wednesday. The Girls Union’s contract with the US Cellular Center runs through 2015, and Dick expects that the State Volleyball Tournament will return to that facility in 2012 through the end of that agreement.

By Jesse Gavin KCNZ Cedar Falls

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IGHSAU to look at expanding to five classes

January 17, 2011 By

A proposal to expand some girls sports to five classes is one of the items on the agenda for this week’s Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Board of Directors meeting. Union Executive Director Mike Dick says that the size differences between schools within each division have gotten out of hand.

Dick says there is an enrollment disparity in the classes, for example in 4A, the biggest school is over 2,100 enrollment, while the smallest school is 500 or 600. He says looking at the disparity may shrink it in all classes, not just 4A.

Dick says that with fewer and fewer small schools each year, the Board would likely have to make adjustments to the classification system at some point, if not now. He says all the schools they are losing right now are 1A schools. Dick says that the board has a very wide range of options available to them on Wednesday.

He says they could make a change in the number of classes, or they could just discuss it and take not action. Dick says he doesn’t expect the board to make a change at this meeting, but instead to keep discussing the issue for another month or two. According to Dick, enrollments and classifications are something that the Union reviews on an almost constant basis, as that is part of good business to keep up with the changes. He says you have to tweak the numbers within the classes every few years as the enrollments continue to change.

While he can’t predict what action the board will take on Wednesday, Dick says that he has seen an increase in support for the five-class proposal. He says the first time they brought it up, he thought there was not any interest, but he says there does seem to be support throughout.

One of the other items on the board’s plate this week is deciding where to hold the 2011 State Volleyball Tournament. The U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids has hosted the event for years, but will be unavailable in 2011 due to renovations.

By Jesse Gavin KCNZ Cedar Falls

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UNI volleyball team to host NCAA opening round

November 29, 2010 By

The U.N.I. volleyball team will be at home next weekend for the opening round of the N.C.C.A. Tournament. The Panthers are 30-2 and received the fifth seed in their region after winning the Missouri Valley tournament in Cedar Falls.

U.N.I. coach Bobbi Peterson says they felt like they did what they needed to do to be the host of the tournament and are happy to get the opportunity to show what they can do. Petterson says she is happy with their five-seed as there were a lot of things that happened that go them into that position.

The Panthers will take on Missouri in Friday’s opening round. Arizona and Northwestern meet in the other first round contest. She says it is huge to get the exposure and she expects a big turnout of fans. Iowa State travels to Minneapolis for a first round matchup against Creighton on Friday.

North Dakota State and Minnesota collide in the other first round contest.

By Elwin Huffman,KOEL, Oelwein

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UNI volleyball holds “Dig Pink” night

October 7, 2010 By

The 14th rated U.N.I. volleyball team has a “Dig Pink” cancer awareness match planned when it faces Bradley Friday at the McLeod Center.

Coach Bobbi Petersen says they’ll wear pink jerseys during the match with the jerseys being auctioned off on UNIPanthers.com following the match. All proceeds go to “Colleges Against Cancer.”

Petersen says the kids are excited about the event which grows each year. Petersen says Bradley doesn’t have the best record, but they’ve been competitive. She says the took Missouri State to five games and Creighton to four games, and Petersen says they are a capable team that just hasn’t been able to get into the win column. The match Friday against Bradley is at seven p-m.

By Elwin Huffman, KOEL, Oelwein

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