The Iowa volleyball team kicked off the season with a successful showing at the Puerto Rico Clasico over the weekend in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The Hawkeyes earned a hard-fought sweep over the Liberty Flames on Friday and knocked off the Providence Friars 3-1 on Saturday, securing a successful 2-0 start on the young season.
Liberty
Iowa began the season on a high note with a hard-fought 3-0 sweep of the Liberty Flames.
Third-year Claire Ammeraal led the Hawkeyes in total kills, with 12 across three sets of play. Ammeraal, a setter, also led the team in aces with three and assists with 22.
Fifth-year libero Joy Galles led the Hawkeyes with 10 digs. Second-year Hannah Whittingstall paced Iowa with five blocks, followed closely by first-year Malu Garcia, who collected four.
Liberty scored first, but the Hawkeyes kept themselves in the game through a series of ties and lead changes that ultimately resulted in a 24-23 edge going into the final point. Following a strong set from Ammeraal, Garcia logged a kill to nudge the Hawkeyes to a 25-23 triumph in set one.
Iowa claimed an identical 25-23 victory in set two.
While each team tallied 13 kills in the first set, the second set saw Iowa record 17 to Liberty’s 16. Facing a narrow 24-23 lead, Garcia once again brought the game home with one final kill to give the Hawkeyes a comfortable 2-0 advantage.
After narrowly losing two sets, the Flames were out of gas, and Iowa rode the momentum to a 25-15 triumph, securing the sweep. Liberty only recorded four successful kills, while the energized Hawkeyes had 14 of their own.
“I am happy for the team,” Iowa head coach Jim Barnes told HawkeyeSports. “They showed a lot of trust during the close times of the match, and that’s what we are looking for.”
Providence
Iowa closed out the Puerto Rico Clasico with a resounding 3-1 triumph over Providence on Saturday.
Ammeraal once again led Iowa in kills with 11 and 34 assists. Galles also led in digs once again, with 22 recorded. Additionally, five Hawkeyes tallied two aces apiece.
The Friars started strong out of the gate with a 4-1 advantage in the first set, but Iowa continued to chip away and tied the score at 12 on a kill from Ammeraal. There were multiple lead changes and deadlocks throughout the set, which ended when Garcia and Ammeraal each put up kills to give Iowa a 25-23 win.
Iowa continued its winning streak into the second set and quickly built up a 10-5 lead over the opposing Friars.
While Providence threw everything they had at the Hawkeyes, Iowa managed to hold the lead for the remainder of the game. After the Friars committed a ball handling error, the Hawkeyes claimed the second set, 25-19.
Multiple lead changes and ties marked the third set of play, resulting in a 25-21 Providence triumph. While the Friars pulled away slightly at the end, Iowa exited the third set with a commanding 2-1 lead and a chance to end their Puerto Rico Clasico on a high note.
Iowa responded after the tough loss and claimed a 25-19 triumph in the fourth set, securing a 2-0 start to the young season. The Hawkeyes were the only team in the invitational to win both games.
“We played several players that earned valuable experience,” Barnes said after the game. “We learned a great deal this weekend and look forward to going home and playing in front of our great fans next weekend.”
Up next
Iowa returns home to Xtreme Arena in Coralville on Sept 6 against San Jose State as part of the annual Hawkeye Invitational.
Following their match against the Spartans, the Hawkeyes will face Delaware later that evening and conclude the event with a contest against Cal Baptist on Sept 7. All games will be live-streamed on Big Ten Plus.