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Former Iowa prep Payton Petersen played key role for Louisville volleyball

Dike-New Hartford standout Payton Petersen part of Louisville’s rotation in NCAA title game

Dana Becker

Former Dike-New Hartford standout Payton Petersen had a key role in Louisville's run to the NCAA championship game.
Former Dike-New Hartford standout Payton Petersen had a key role in Louisville's run to the NCAA championship game. / Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While Louisville came up just short of securing the NCAA volleyball championship, freshman Payton Petersen made a name for herself.

Petersen, the former Dike-New Hartford High School standout, was thrown into action in the semifinals and delivered. 

Following the loss of All-American Anna DeBeer, the Cardinals looked to Petersen to fill her shoes. She recorded back-to-back serving aces, had four digs and two kills, with the final one being the winner to secure Louisville’s four-set win over No. 1 Pittsburgh.

The Cardinals would fall to Penn State in the championship game on Sunday.

Payton Petersen watched as Louisville eliminated her mom, UNI

It was an interesting NCAA tourney for Petersen. Along with getting serious action in key situations late, she watched as her new team knocked off her mom.

Petersen’s mother is the head coach at Northern Iowa, Bobbi. Louisville earned a five-set win over the Panthers to stay alive.

The 5-foot-10 outside hitter played in 35 sets, including all four vs. Penn State in the finals. She recorded 37 kills this past season, including four vs. the Nittany Lions.

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Dana Becker
DANA BECKER

Dana Becker has been a sports writer in Iowa since 2000, writing for The Fort Dodge Messenger, Mason City Globe-Gazette, Cedar Rapids Gazette and others. Dana resides in northcentral Iowa and started as a writer with SB Live Sports in 2022 focused on the state of Iowa. Along with providing coverage of football and wrestling, Dana also spotlights cross country, swimming, basketball, track and field, soccer, tennis, golf, baseball and softball. He began writing for High School on SI in 2023.

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