Perfection can give a team a lot to smile about. Sitting at 3-0 after the first weekend of the season, there is plenty for the Iowa volleyball team to be beaming about.
The Hawkeyes dominated Loyola of Chicago, Marquette, and Eastern Kentucky en route to winning the Loyola Invitational over this past weekend, dropping only one set throughout the entire tournament.
“It felt great,” coach Sharon Dingman said. “I think winning always feels good, but to start the season the way we did, I think it says a lot about some of the goals we want to accomplish and that the players are pretty serious about getting some good things done this year. … It was nice to see some of the players step up and play so well.”
Many players not only stepped up and saw action for Iowa, a few made their Hawkeye débuts. Megan Schipper, a senior outside hitter and one of the Hawkeyes’ two captains, was excited to see the freshmen get their first taste of collegiate competition.
“It was really good to see them on the court,” she said. “They weren’t too nervous, they were really excited to be out there, and they fit in really well with us. Lauren [Friedman] and Emma [Krieger Kittle] both did great this weekend.”
Junior Aimee Huffman, an outside hitter, earned tournament MVP honors with 29 kills, 19 digs, 10 total blocks, and seven assists. The Texas native felt honored to receive the accolade but believed the team’s consistency played a integral role in winning.
“I was really excited,” Huffman said. “I just went out there and had fun and just wanted to play confident and start off the season well. I think our communication and energy were really important. We kept it up and were pretty consistent all three games, I think that was the key factor.”
Despite having the best start to a season since 2002, the Hawkeyes haven’t become arrogant or overconfident. The Big Ten boasts five teams in the top 25, including defending NCAA champion and No. 1 Penn State. While the Hawkeyes realize confidence is important, they also realize it’s still early in the season.
“Our confidence is up, but at the same time, the coaches don’t want it to get too high,” Schipper said. “It was a good tournament, but we have Big Ten’s starting pretty soon, so we have to get ready for that and stay grounded.”
With over a month left before conference play starts, Dingman would like to see the team focus on making better decisions during play.
“We have to work on our offensive efficiency,” she said. “I think that’s probably our biggest thing right now. Part of that is hitters making better choices with the balls, setters setting a little bit better. Everybody is involved with that, it’s not just the hitters but certainly I would like to see our hitters make some better choices than what we made this weekend.”
