The Iowa volleyball team hosted the Kwik Star Klassic this weekend, facing off against three different teams at its home arena in Coralville.
After an initial strong start, marked by a 3-2 Thursday victory over the South Dakota Coyotes, the Hawkeyes ultimately fell 3-1 in each of their final two games to the St. Louis Billikens and the Drake Bulldogs.
Initially leading the contest 2-0, the Hawkeyes witnessed the Coyotes claw their way back to tie the competition at two sets each. Iowa ultimately won the fifth set to earn its sixth win of the season.
First-year Dominique Phills led the Hawkeye offense with 18 kills, followed by fourth-year Gracie Gibson, who contributed 10. Fifth-year Joy Galles locked down the defense with 16 digs, fourth-year Michelle Urquhart right behind with 13.
While the Coyotes took an early 6-1 lead to establish themselves in the first set, Iowa remained undeterred. After a much-needed timeout, the Hawkeyes worked hard to close the gap and took an 18-17 lead, their first of the set, aided by kills from Phills and first-year Alyssa Worden. After two South Dakota timeouts and a 22-22 deadlock, the set ended when the Coyotes logged three consecutive attack errors, allowing Iowa a 25-22 win.
The second set similarly ended in a Hawkeye victory. This time, Iowa came out strong, denying South Dakota the lead it had quickly gained in the first set. The Hawkeyes forced two timeouts from their opponent in the set while taking none of their own. Leading 23-20, two more attack errors from South Dakota’s side of the court allowed Iowa to take a 2-0 lead.
South Dakota mounted a comeback in the remaining sets, taking the third set, 25-22. The visiting Coyotes earned 17 kills over the course of the set to combat Iowa’s 13, 10 of which came from Phills and Gibson. While an attack error from South Dakota allowed the Hawkeyes to close the gap to 24-22, South Dakota finished Iowa off with one final kill to bring the competition to a 2-1 Hawkeye lead.
Iowa again stumbled briefly in the fourth set, an opportunity that the Coyotes pounced on. South Dakota outscored the Hawkeyes both on the board and in kills, achieving 16 kills versus Iowa’s 10.
In addition, no Hawkeye recorded more than two kills, save for Urquhart, who had three. Trailing 24-19 after a South Dakota attack error, Iowa finished the set on the receiving end of a Coyote kill to give the opposition a 25-19 win.
With the game tied at 2-2, a fifth set was required to break the tie, which Iowa easily took, 15-7. Kills from first-year Malu Garcia and second-year Gabby Deery and an ace from Galles propelled the Hawkeyes to an early 3-0 lead, a lead they maintained for the entirety of the set. The game came to a close with a fifth-set Iowa win.
Head coach Jim Barnes acknowledged that South Dakota proved difficult opposition.
“When we went up 2-0, we knew there was a lot of game left,” Barnes said. “Credit to South Dakota for fighting back. We’ll certainly take the win against a very good team like that.”
St. Louis
Iowa fell Friday against St. Louis, coming up short after four sets. While initially taking the first set of play over the visiting Billikens, the Hawkeyes fell in the next three sets to give St. Louis a 3-1 win, dropping Iowa’s overall record to 6-5.
Garcia led the offense with 17 kills, Galles putting up 17 digs for the defense.
The Hawkeyes started the contest strong with a triumph in the first set. Garcia earned four kills for Iowa, though the total for each team evened out at 14 each. Of Galles’ 17 digs during the game, six came in the first set, which the Hawkeyes took, 25-20.
St. Louis struck back in the second set, evening the game to 1-1. The Billikens led the set in kills with 14, holding Iowa to only 11. Garcia was the only Hawkeye to earn more than two kills, with five. Leading 24-23, one final kill from St. Louis closed the door on an Iowa shutout, allowing the Billikens to take the second set.
Iowa fell further behind in the third set, which saw another St. Louis triumph.
The Billikens held a greater margin of victory, winning the set by six points, recording 16 kills, and holding Iowa to 12, despite a five-kill effort from Garcia. Falling behind St. Louis at 24-18, Phills logged one final kill in the set for the Hawkeyes, bringing the game to 24-19, before a final Billiken kill gave St. Louis the 25-19 win and a 2-1 lead.
St. Louis brought the competition to an end with a win in the fourth set. Tied 22-22 after a kill from Phills, the end of the set drawing nearer, St. Louis earned a kill and an ace, bridged by an Iowa attack error, to win the set at 25-22 and the competition at 3-1.
Drake
Iowa came up short on Saturday against Drake too. Similar to the Kwik Star Klassic’s second game against St. Louis, the Hawkeyes lost three sets to one.
Second-year Hannah Whittingstall led Iowa in kills with 14 for the day, followed by Gibson with 11 and Urquhart and Deery with 10 each. Galles led the Hawkeyes in digs with 18, followed by first-year Jenna Meitzler with 15 and Urquhart with eight.
Iowa fought hard but ultimately fell by five points in the first set. Trailing 21-12, the Hawkeyes kicked off a scoring run against the Bulldogs, logging three points before Drake called a timeout. Later, Deery closed the gap to 24-20 with a kill before Drake earned a kill of its own, taking the first set, 25-20.
The Hawkeyes fell by an identical margin in the second set, Drake snapping up a second 25-20 win. The Bulldogs grabbed 17 kills in this set, holding Iowa to 13 that included four from Gibson. One of Gibson’s kills brought Iowa to a familiar 24-20 deficit, before a Bulldog kill allowed Drake to take a 2-0 lead.
Iowa came together to win the third set and force a fourth, ending the Bulldog bid for a sweep. Amid a tumultuous competition that included two Drake timeouts and a successful score challenge by the Hawkeyes, Iowa came out on top with a 25-22 win.
With the Hawkeyes remaining in the game, the fourth set saw Drake give its all to take down Iowa with another 25-20 set win, ending the competition with a final score of 3-1 for the Bulldogs.
A kill from Urquhart and a Bulldog attack error off a block from Whittingstall and Meitzler brought the Hawkeyes closer to a possible fifth set, trailing only 24-20. However, one final kill from the Bulldogs allowed Drake to win the day.
Up next
The Hawkeyes now hold a 6-6 overall record in time for conference play to begin.
Iowa will continue its season and start Big Ten play on the road against Rutgers on Thursday, Sept. 26. The game will receive coverage from both the Big Ten Network and Hawkeye Radio Network.