By James Kay
The Hawkeye volleyball team (8-2) heads into the weekend hoping to solidify its play and starting rotation.
This is the last weekend before the team travels to Michigan to begin Big Ten play. With that in mind, the Hawkeyes focus on readying themselves for the competition.
“Big Ten play is way different than our preseason play because it is a lot faster and the speed of the game is quicker,” said sophomore Libby Koukol. “I think really dialing in and cleaning up our play this weekend will help us for when we go up against the Big Ten.”
The Hawkeyes will start their short home stand against Lamar today. Lamar has lost its first nine games and is 1-18 dating back to last season, winning only six of the 30 sets it has played this season. Despite Lamar’s lack of success this year, the Hawkeyes are treating this like any other match.
“We are just going to focus on what we do on our side. That’s all we can control,” said junior Jess Janota. “We have to focus on what we do on our side of the ball and make sure we keep progressing for when we play against the Big Ten.”
Head coach Bond Shymansky agreed.
“Teams that don’t win much in preconference are actually the scariest teams to play,” Shymansky said. “A team like that will roll in here and see us as a huge moment or opportunity, so they get to play with nothing to lose. That is a unique challenge.”
The coaching staff will use this weekend as an opportunity to figure what to do with the starting lineup. Despite struggling in Iowa’s last match against Iowa State, senior Lauren Brobst figures to be a lock on the outside with Janota and sophomore Reghan Coyle completing the front row. The back row, however, is up for grabs.
“We are still working to figure out who our back row group is exactly, and we have a lot of different players contributing to that group,” said Shymansky. “The rest of the lineup seems to be fairly well solidified.”
Shymansky did note how vital redshirt sophomore Kasey Reuter will be coming off the bench.
“Kasey hasn’t been getting a lot of starting time, but she has been getting more and more playing time,” Shymansky said. “She is going to be a great spark off the bench as a hitter and a server. Her athleticism is something that is elite level, and we are going to count on that as we move forward into Big Ten play.”
Reuter has been productive so far this season, hitting an impressive .371 in six matches. Take out her one poor performance against Oakland and her percentage jumps to .457 in five matches.
The Hawkeyes face will Lamar at 7 p.m. today in Carver-Hawkeye. They will also face red-hot South Dakota (9-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday.