By James Kay
The Hawkeye volleyball team (15-5) had mixed results this past weekend; the team split its weekend matches against Maryland and Ohio State.
Iowa beat Maryland in straight sets on Oct. 14 before falling to No. 19 Ohio State the next night.
Iowa head coach Bond Shymansky was not pleased with his team’s performance.
“We have to go back to the drawing board,” Shymansky said in a release after the Ohio State loss. “It was a good weekend for us, in a way, to go 1-1 on a road trip in the Big Ten, but obviously, we have to execute a lot stronger and stay in the moment a little longer. We will head back to work to prepare for next weekend.”
The weekend road trip wasn’t a total loss, as the Hawkeyes were productive against a struggling Maryland team. Senior Jess Janota had a career-high 8 blocks to go along with 10 kills. Redshirt freshman Meghan Buzzerio had a team-high 12 kills, while seniors Ashley Mariani and Lauren Brobst each added on 9 kills. The Hawkeyes had an efficient match, hitting .313.
Maryland was less impressive, as it hit .181 collectively while collecting 19 attack errors as well. The Terrapins suffered their seventh-consecutive Big Ten loss and remain winless against their conference foes.
The Hawkeyes didn’t have the same luck against Ohio State, falling to the Buckeyes in straight sets (25-15, 25-22, 25-9). This was their third loss against nationally ranked opponents, all of which are in the Big Ten.
Sophomore Reghan Coyle was the lone bright spot in what was an ugly loss for the Hawkeyes. Coyle tallied 9 kills on 14 chances while garnering 3 assists. This was the first time the Hawkeyes didn’t have a single player register double-digits in kills. The team finished the match with its worst hitting percentage of the season (.103).
Ohio State shredded the Hawkeye defense, hitting .384 as a group. Senior Taylor Sandbothe led the team with 11 kills, while sophomore Audra Appoid added 11 kills.
The Hawkeyes must rebound quickly; they host No. 3 Minnesota on Oct. 21, and No. 1 Wisconsin on Oct. 22 at Carver-Hawkeye.
With a weekend slate like that, Iowa can’t afford to dwell on a loss to Ohio State on the road.
There’s too much at stake for anything like that to happen with them.