The Iowa volleyball team is getting a lot of production from all of its hitters.
By Kyle Mann
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The Iowa volleyball team went 4-0 in the Holiday Inn Hawkeye Challenge this past weekend — defeating Gardner-Webb, Drake, and Coastal Carolina twice — and showed a dangerously diverse offensive attack along the way.
Lauren Brobst and Jess Janota have headlined the Iowa offense for the past two seasons, and they could prove to be one of the top duos in the Big Ten this season. Another trend emerging for coach Bond Shymansky’s offense, however, has been the complementary production he’s been getting.
Reagan Davey continued her emergence as a matchup problem with her extraordinary athleticism over the weekend, while Mikaela Gunderson demonstrated again that she can be relied upon as a weapon. Transfer Ashley Mariani also joined in the fun with a few strong matches.
At the center of it all: setter Loxley Keala. The junior transfer from Missouri was recognized as Big Ten Setter of the Week last week after her role in Iowa’s victories over Iowa State and Texas A&M, and she is second in the Big Ten with 11.59 assists per set. By sheer number of assists on the year, her 533 is 121 more than Wisconsin’s Lauren Carlini.
Keala has made a name for herself early in her career at Iowa, and it was no exception at home this past weekend.
She had 28 assists as the Hawkeyes swept Gardner-Webb, a match featuring nine different Hawks registering kills. She then had 43 assists in another straight-sets victory against Coastal Carolina, in which Brobst had 13 kills, Mariani had 11, and Gunderson had 10.
Gunderson has been a particularly more effective offensive weapon this season, to which Shymansky credits Keala for her connecting quickly with her new teammates.
“I think Gunderson is becoming more prolific for us because of her connection with Loxley,” Shymansky said. “That quarterback-to-receiver thing is really starting to move, and you can see it moving faster and faster. That’s a rhythm thing between those two players.”
When the Hawkeyes woke up to play Coastal Carolina for a second time on the morning of Sept. 19, it was more of the same. Brobst had 11 kills, Janota had 12, and Davey led with 13 in yet another sweep. Keala hit the 40-assist mark again, and she has been impressed with the continued emergence of the freshman Davey.
“She’s been the spark lately, just lots of energy and she’s swinging,” Keala said. “What I love about her is that she’s not afraid to swing at any ball. Even if it’s a bad set, she’ll make the best out of it. She’s got a no-fear mentality that I admire.”
It was as clean of a tournament as possible for Iowa; it finished with one more straight-set victory over Drake on the afternoon of Sept. 19. Brobst had 13 kills, and Keala had 43 assists to help Gunderson (10) and Mariani (11) hit double-digit kills for the second time of the tournament.
The team has taken a step forward this season — now on an eight-match winning streak, its longest since 2006 — largely thanks to Keala. Gunderson in particular has seen her game elevate, and she speaks highly of the dynamic Keala brings to the team.
“Off the court, we’re really good friends, so on the floor sometimes that translates,” Gunderson said. “If I don’t terminat the ball, she says, ‘Hey, let’s go,’ and if I don’t like her set, I can say, ‘Hey, can you push me out?’ We’re brutally honest with each other, so that helps a lot.”