The Iowa volleyball team fell to Michigan State, three sets to one, at Xtream Arena in Coralville on Saturday — remaining winless in Big Ten play. 

Hawkeye fourth-year setter Bailey Ortega led the charge for the Hawkeyes with three kills, 13 digs, and 33 assists, while fifth-year outside hitter Caitlan Buettner finished the match with 12 kills and 11 digs and first-year outside hitter Nataly Moravec followed up with 10 kills and 13 digs.

But like their loss to Penn State in straight sets the night before, the Hawkeyes’ offensive output was not enough to propel the team to a win.

The first set saw both teams alternating points as the score never separated further than three all the way through. Moravec and Buettner both tallied three kills and four digs in the set as Iowa started strong with a win, 25-23.

But Michigan State went on a 6-1 run to start the second set. 

The Hawkeyes were unable to find any sort of momentum as the Spartans turned their own momentum into domination, taking the second set, 25-13. 

Buettner’s strong kill ignited a 6-1 run for the Hawkeyes as they took a 9-4 lead early into the third set. 

The Spartans responded well as they were able to tie the score at 15 apiece, and the set was a back-and-forth battle from there as both teams fought into extra points. 

But Michigan State would again prevail to take the set, 30-28. 

The fourth set saw the Spartans take an early lead before the Hawkeyes fought their way back to even the score, 10-10. 

Michigan State’s defense stalled Iowa’s momentum as the Spartans went on to take the lead and refused to let it go. The Spartans took the set, 25-23, to clinch the victory over the Hawkeyes, in three sets to Iowa’s one. 

A hint of improvement

Despite the match loss, Iowa’s first set win snapped a drought of consecutive set losses: The Hawkeyes had lost 19 straight sets prior — their last winning set coming in the Big Ten home opener against Minnesota. 

Iowa head coach Jim Barnes was pleased to see progress but believes the Hawkeyes had opportunities to win sets three and four. 

He noted the need for the team’s consistency to improve.

“You’ve got to be really aggressive attacking; that’s what you see as who’s hitting the hardest [and] who’s hitting it more consistently,” Barnes said. “That’s all decided off of how you pass the ball and dig it up to the net so the center can run the offense. But I’m proud of how we competed.”

Ortega credited the Hawkeyes’ passing and hitting for her performance in the game. She believes Iowa can beat anyone when they play how they played against Michigan State.

“I feel like we’re at the point with our team where we can take any match off of anyone,” Ortega said. “I think we showed that against Minnesota, and we showed that tonight. We know we can [win] regardless of the rank or who the opponent is.”

While highlighting the Hawkeye offense, Ortega took a second to credit the team’s defense as well. 

“I think our defense has always been [great] — sometimes it just doesn’t come out on our side point-wise, but we’ve always had the effort,” she said. “We have to continue to make teams go through the long rallies and work harder than we do to beat us. [Michigan State] did that tonight.”

Up next

Iowa will rematch with No. 13 Penn State at State College, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 20, the Hawkeyes looking to bounce back from a straight-sets loss to the Nittany Lions on Friday night.