The Iowa volleyball team put one in the win column Wednesday night for its first conference victory.
By James Kay
The Hawkeyes earned their first conference win Wednesday night, taking down Maryland in straight sets. The team improved to 11-4 this season.
The team was led by junior Jess Janota, who obliterated the Terrapins with a .429 hitting percentage (12-21). Whether it was blocking, diving for the ball or exposing Maryland’s defense, Janota was there.
“We challenged Jess [Janota] to go into beast mode,” said Iowa head coach Bond Shymansky. “We always say, ‘Don’t poke the bear,’ and when people poke Jess, she can do something phenomenal. She caused so many problems for them that it allowed other players to go off too.”
Janota’s mindset was simple — do the little things and stay within her role as a dominant force on the frontline.
“My mindset was just to bring as much intensity as I can,” said Janota. “Just doing my responsibilities: doing everything I can as a middle blocker and make myself an option.”
The stat sheet proves Shymansky’s belief. Sophomore Reghan Coyle hit an impressive .462 while adding 7 kills. Senior Ashley Mariani was second on the team in kills (10) and led the team in hitting percentage (.588).
The Hawkeyes did, however, struggle out of the gate, which is something they have had a problem with so far this season. After obtaining a 7-4 lead in the first set, the team strung together a series of mental lapses, and their miscommunication on the court led to a 19-15 deficit. Shymansky called a time-out.
“It wasn’t a scouting-report issue, it wasn’t a focusing on executing issue,” he said. “Once we got those clicked on, we took care of business.”
The Hawkeyes roared out of the time-out on a 5-1 run that tied the match at 20. After Maryland took a 21-20 lead, the momentum started to shift in its favor. That changed when Keala kept the next play alive, sprinting to the far right side of the court while colliding into the announcer’s table.
The Hawkeyes were able to return the Terrapins’ attack and eventually won the point after Maryland frantically overshot the Hawkeye back row. From there, the set belonged to the Hawkeyes. They ended the set on a 3-1 run and won 25-22.
The Hawkeyes’ in-game adjustments paid dividends — they never trailed the rest of the match. They hit .324 in the last two sets while holding the Terrapins to a meager .042 hitting percentage.
“I think we did a better job of taking care of the ball on our side of the net,” Keala said. “We made a few errors in the beginning. There were a few unforced errors that we definitely cut back in Sets 2 and 3.”
Last season, the Hawkeyes didn’t record their first conference win until Oct. 31 against Rutgers. Despite losing their first two matches against nationally ranked Michigan and Michigan State, the team is relieved to get that first Big Ten win out of the way.
“[The win] is really important. We have learned our lesson from last year, and we are definitely more confident than we were last year,” Keala said. “We know we can compete with any team in the Big Ten, and I think we really showed that tonight.”