Iowa volleyball went 1-2 in the Hawaii Tournament, falling to two ranked opponents

By Kyle Mann
[email protected]

The Iowa volleyball team traveled to Honolulu this past weekend for the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic, going 1-2 against a trio of formidable opponents.

Coach Bond Shymansky was excited in the preseason to note

that his team has a challenging out-of-conference schedule, saying that the more good teams a program plays, the better that program becomes. The Hawkeyes faced a pair of ranked opponents over the weekend and certainly have plenty they can learn from the outcomes.

The Hawkeyes met the hosting No. 17 Hawaii on Sept. 4, falling, 3-1.

Iowa came out and looked great in the opening set, forcing Hawaii into eight attacking errors and claiming a 25-18 victory. The second set began neck-and-neck, tied at 9 and also at 13, before the Rainbow Wahine pulled away and took the set, 25-20.

Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, that was a trend for the remainder of the match. They led the third set, 11-10, before dropping it, 25-18. They then led the fourth, 20-18, before letting it slip, 25-21.

Despite the 3-1 finish in the match, Iowa was competitive in each set and could have swung the match in any of them. Shymansky said as much following the match, stating that a tumultuous contest with Hawaii at home is exactly what will build the team’s character.

He was surprised, then, after seeing his team’s fight against Hawaii, when the team was swept by No. 25 UCLA on Sept. 5.

The first set was the closest at 25-20, with the Bruins seeming to gain more and more momentum as the evening went on. They used a .469 attack percentage to claim set two, 25-16, before the Hawkeyes let their own hitting percentage drop to -.062 in a 25-13 third set loss.

Iowa did respond in a big way, however, in its Sunday match against American. They got off to a fast start en route to a 25-15 first set victory, using a diverse attack from Lauren Brobst, Jess Janota, and Mikaela Gunderson.

The Hawkeyes continued to play well, but American was able to steal the second set, 25-21. Brobst then had 6 kills to power a 25-22 win in the third. Gunderson and Ashley Mariani rounded out the offense in the fourth, and an overall .452 attack percentage led to a 25-19 victory to win the match, 3-1.

Brobst had 16 kills, Gunderson had a career-high 14 on a .524 hitting percentage, and Janota and Mariani had 10 apiece. Loxley Keala had a 46-assist, 13-dig double-double, and Annika Olsen had 22 digs.   

Iowa now has a 3-3 record; it will open its home schedule on Friday.

Follow @KyleFMann for news, updates, and analysis of Iowa volleyball.