Twice as nice (again): Petersen sisters carrying on family volleyball tradition at Dike-New Hartford

By Bret Hayworth  

DIKE, Iowa — There are a lot of things that make Jadyn Petersen and Payton Petersen feel proud. 

They are appreciative to be among the latest bunch of Dike-New Hartford volleyball performers who have made all-state teams, earned college scholarships and amassed 15 state tournament titles.

The Petersens are proud of the fact that Class 2A D-NH routinely plays a difficult schedule, littered with matches against much larger enrollment Class 5A and 4A programs, which the Wolverines routinely defeat. They are grateful to hail from such a volleyball-steeped family, one that has had their mother, aunts and older twin siblings – yes, that's right, there are two sets of twins in the family – play collegiately at the Division I level.

And Jadyn and Payton are proud of each other.

“I am super lucky to have been on such great teams. We get different roles each year…. We are just so blessed and thankful for the opportunities that God has given us in our life,” Payton Petersen said.

Both added that there is a benefit to the twins sharing a similar outlook that might not be experienced by other players,

“I love being a twin and having (Payton) out there with me,” Jadyn said. “I always have someone to lean on and help me get better. She is so fun to play with and we get along so well on the court. I think we feed off each other’s energy.”

The twins, who are in 11th grade, spoke on a late September Sunday in the commons area next to the Wolverines gym, in a school district that lies just west and north of the Cedar Falls/Waterloo metro. The day before, the Wolverines had suffered the second loss of the season among several matches in a tourney, but the Petersens and their teammates through Oct. 1 have amassed a record of 26-2 for 2022.

Daughters of Bobbi and Duane Petersen, both were Class 2A first-team all-staters as sophomores in 2021, with Payton also adding the honor of Elite All State.

That came after the Wolverines capped the 54-1 capaign with a defeat of Western Christian (Hull) for the Class 2A title. Although some key performers were lost to graduation, many good Wolverines besides the Petersens are on the court this year. That includes senior setter Madelyn Norton, who led all Iowa preps in 2021 with 1,209 assists and will play next year at Western Illinois University, plus junior Maryn Bixby, who leads the team with more than 50 blocks, and seniors Ellie Knock, who is hitting at .304 efficiency, and Sophia Folkerts, who is hitting .340.

“Our senior leaders have been amazing, to keep that train going,” Payton Petersen said.

Head coach Diane Harms reached the 1,000 career wins milestone in September, which demonstrates the longstanding prowess of the program. Harms now is one of four active Iowa high school volleyball coaches with 1,000 wins, with the others being Eavon Woodin of Waverly-Shell Rock, Tammi Verbeek of Western Christian, and Melissa Freesmeier of Holy Trinity Catholic.

The two Petersens first played for Harms in fourth grade, like so many other young girls living in Dike and New Hartford, in a youth program.

“(Harms) won’t tell you, but she is a great coach. She is humbly proud of the culture we have here,” Payton Petersen said.

“(Harms) is literally amazing. She dedicates a lot of herself to this program…She cares not just how we are at volleyball, but also in life,” Jadyn added.

The 2022 team has wins over ranked Class 5A teams such as Pleasant Valley (twice), Iowa City, Ankeny and Cedar Falls. The sole losses have been to Class 5A Dowling and Class 3A Mount Vernon.

“I know our team loves playing at those levels,” Payton said of the tough schedule mentality.

“It is really competitive. (Opponents) are gonna want to take us down. It is really fun, a high level of volleyball,” Jadyn added.

As the 2022 Dike-New Hartford wins pile up, so do the top-tier stats for the twins. Payton leads the Wolverines with 258 kills through Oct. 1, hit at .321 efficiency, had 174 digs and 31 blocks, plus 32 service aces. Jadyn led the squad with 189 digs, and has rung up 175 kills and served at 91 percent.

They pondered a question on what makes their twin so good in the sport. Only some ever-so-slight squirming was detectable as the answers came out.

Jadyn went first to assess Payton, who is the taller of the twins.

“She has great leadership and will always be 100 percent there for you,” Jadyn said. “She has got it all, she is the whole package.”

Payton shared impressions of Jadyn: “She has that grittiness and that hustle. She is willing to track down that ball, she is not going to let it hit the floor. She brings a sense of energy to the entire team…She definitely doesn’t give herself enough credit. She is so smart at the game.”

FAMILY VOLLEYBALL ROOTS RUN DEEP

As one of the older Petersen twin siblings who graduated from D-NH in 2018 after winning three state titles and all-state accolades, Baylee Petersen is about to wrap five years at the University of Northern Iowa. She is a 5-8 height defensive specialist and libero, who has a career-high game with 23 digs and 944 career digs through Oct. 1.

Sydney Petersen also is wrapping her college career with one year at UNI, after playing her previous years at the University of Texas. One of those years involved the Longhorns reaching the national title game, and now at UNI Sydney, a libero and defensive specialist, has helped the Panthers get off to a 4-0 start in Missouri Valley Conference play.

Going one generation older, the twins’ mother Bobbi (Becker) Petersen played for UNI, and their father was a four-year Panher football letterman. Bobbi Petersen was the Gateway Conference Player of the 1980s decade. By the 1990s UNI grew into a Division I elite program, and then after years as a Panther assistant coach, Bobbi became the head coach, a role she has now held for 23 years. On top of that, two other Becker aunts, Michelle and Jen, played for UNI.

All that family history in D-NH and UNI volleyball exploits doesn’t confine the two younger twins as they seek their own path in volleyball and in other avenues as young women, Payton and Jadyn said. Jadyn noted she shared in middle school that her favorite sport was basketball, and her family members never tried to dissuade her of that.

“Volleyball didn't have to be a thing, it wasn’t forced on us. They just wanted us to be happy,” Jadyn said.

The Petersens can soak in a lot of volleyball knowledge and tips from both their mom and older sisters, and often it is less directed to skills and more about mental outlook, since volleyball can be a humbling sport. On one play, a great pass or kill may play out, then an error could occur on the very next point.

“(The older siblings) have definitely taught us a lot, on having a positive mindset, because in the game of volleyball, there are going to be tough times,” Jadyn said.

Jadyn said the quick pace of cascading points is one of the reasons volleyball came back to eventually become her fave sport, in spite of also being state caliber in track and hoops.

“I just like the grittiness of it,” Jadyn said.

Now, Jadyn plans to play volleyball collegiately, and so in September made the choice of playing for UNI and being coached by her mother, who was the AVCA National Coach of the Year in 2002. Jadyn narrowed her choices to Kansas State and the University of Omaha, before landing on UNI.

“Something when I was at UNI just told me this was where I want to be,” Jadyn said.

A few days later, Payton settled her college selection. After official visits to Kansas State and Creighton, she selected the University of Louisville, in Kentucky. She cited Louisville, which plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference, as a growing program that felt right.

“They are in a great spot. They can make me into a great player,” Payton said.

Both girls praised the “fan culture” of Dike-New Hartford volleyball. The Petersens were on state-winning Wolverine teams in 2020 and 2021, and hope for another title this year as juniors.

They want to achieve that in 2022 before thinking of nabbing a possible fourth crown as seniors.

“I wouldn’t say there are those expectations. I haven’t thought about winning a fourth,” Payton said. Then, she did ponder that possibility for a second, adding, “That would be cool.”