The Iowa volleyball team kicked off their home schedule with the three-game Hawkeye Invitational over the weekend at Xtreme Arena in Coralville.
Following a 3-1 Friday loss to the San Jose State Spartans, the Hawkeyes bested the Delaware Blue Hens that evening and rolled through the Cal Baptist Lancers on Saturday.
San Jose State
Iowa suffered their first loss of the 2024-25 season in a gritty matchup against San Jose State.
Fourth-year Michelle Urquhart led Iowa in kills with 14, followed closely by fourth-year Gracie Gibson with 12. Fifth-year Joy Galles led on the defensive end with 18 digs, followed by Urquhart with 10.
The Spartans forced several early errors from Iowa and took the first set 25-16. While the Hawkeyes closed the deficit from 24-13 down to 24-16, San Jose State ultimately set up one final kill to close out the period.
The second set also ended in a San Jose State victory despite an improved effort from Iowa.
The Hawkeyes held the lead on several occasions, and led 15-11 at one point, but San Jose State came back aggressively and came away with a 25-21 win.
Iowa won the third set, 26-24, marking its only triumph of the match.
With the score tied at 24 apiece, a kill from Urquhart and an attack error by San Jose State allowed Iowa to win their first set at home, ending the Spartans’ bid for a sweep.
San Jose State was able to pull far enough away to cement their win in the fourth of five possible sets, resulting in a 25-19 triumph over the Hawkeyes.
The score was tied 17-17 late in the set, but a series of successful Spartan kills and two Iowa attack errors clinched the victory for San Jose State.
Delaware
Despite the tough defeat, Iowa bounced back later that evening with a hard-fought 3-2 win over the Delaware Blue Hens.
While the Blue Hens led the contest at two intervals, Iowa’s fourth set victory forced a fifth and final set that allowed the Hawkeyes to steal the win, earning their first home victory of the season.
Second-year Hannah Whittingstall led the Hawkeyes in kills with 11, followed by first-year Dominique Phills with nine and third-year Claire Ammeraal with eight. Galles again led in digs with 17.
Despite the Hawkeyes scoring first, Delaware held their own in the first set trailing Iowa all the way to a 10-10 deadlock.
An error allowed the Blue Hens to tie the score and two more allowed them to take their first lead of the set. While a Delaware service error and a kill from Whittingstall gave Iowa hope, the Blue Hens were able to secure a few kills to win the first set 25-18.
Iowa tied up the game with a 25-2 win in the second set to knot up the series at one set apiece.
Worden excelled defensively, earning five of her recorded digs in the second set. Six different Hawkeyes tallied kills, including Whittingstall, who led with three.
After Iowa grabbed a 23-21, a bad set from the Blue Hens and a service ace by Whittingstall clinched the Hawkeye triumph.
Delaware responded with a 25-13 triumph in set three to take a 2-1 edge in the contest.
The Blue Hens recorded the first kill of the set and held the lead for the entirety of the period. The Hawkeyes struggled with several errors and were forced to call two timeouts compared to Delaware’s one.
A kill from Phills briefly closed the gap to 23-13 for the Blue Hens, but two more kills on Delaware’s end brought the third match to a close.
Iowa came back to force a fifth set after a 25-13 victory in the fourth session. The Hawkeyes jumped to an early 6-0 lead and held control of the scoreboard for the remainder of the set to set up a deciding fifth period.
With the crowd at Xtreme Arena rocking, Iowa rode the momentum to a 15-7 victory in the fifth set, clinching their first home triumph on the young season.
The Hawkeyes trailed briefly, but managed to keep their composure and soar to an insurmountable 11-6 lead. A Delaware kill pulled them within four points, but multiple errors and a final ace from Malu Garcia allowed Iowa to secure the win.
“Delaware played hard and we kept fighting,” head coach Jim Barnes told HawkeyeSports. “We turned the momentum our way in the fourth set. I believe we grew through adversity today.”
Cal Baptist
Iowa kicked off their winning streak with a 3-0 sweep of the Cal Baptist Lancers. Unlike previous games, the Hawkeyes took the sets in succession, starting with an early lead and not looking back.
Phills led Iowa in kills with 10 across three sets of play, followed by Garcia and Ammeraal with nine each. The Hawkeyes tallied 40 kills as a team and held Cal Baptist to 28. Urquhart paced Iowa’s defense, amassing 10 of 41 recorded digs, followed by Ammeraal with eight.
Iowa came out strong and secured a hard-fought 25-17 victory in set one.
While Cal Baptist initially gained a 2-1 lead after successfully challenging a score call, the Hawkeyes took over from there to claim the period.
The Hawkeyes took the second set despite a valiant effort from Cal Baptist.
Despite early action from Iowa, the score was tied at six early in the set. The Lancers gained momentum and built an early 11-8 lead, but a scoring run from the Hawkeyes ultimately shifted the energy to the home team.
With the Hawkeyes holding a slight 24-22 edge, Garcia finished the set off with another kill to give Iowa a narrow 25-22 victory in the second set.
Iowa clinched the sweep with a 25-21 triumph in set three.
It was a back and forth affair, but a Phillis kill and two Lancer errors sent the Hawkeyes home with a sweep, bringing their overall record to 4-1 on the young campaign.
Up next
Iowa will continue their season on the road in Ames on Sept 11 against in-state rival Iowa State. The game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. with live stream coverage on ESPN Plus.