The Iowa volleyball team split both of its games over the weekend, sweeping Rutgers on Friday and falling 3-1 to Purdue on Saturday. The split advances the Hawkeyes to 9-9 overall and 3-3 in Big Ten play. 

Against Rutgers, fourth-year Michelle Urquhart logged 13 kills, recording double-digit kills for the sixth consecutive match. Second-year Gabby Deery followed with 11 kills, while fifth-year Joy Galles led in digs with 18. 

The Scarlet Knights played Iowa to five sets during the two teams’ first clash on Sept. 26. But this night was much different, as the Hawkeyes played efficient volleyball to earn the sweep. 

In the first set, the game’s closest, Iowa found themselves in extra points territory, leading Rutgers 25-24. The Knights knotted the game at 25 with a kill before the Hawkeyes capitalized on an attack error and served an ace to take the set 27-25. 

The second set saw the Hawkeyes win by a larger margin and play a much more dominant game.

Iowa logged 17 kills in the second set, holding Rutgers to seven in the process. The Hawkeyes also found success early on with a 3-0 lead, boosted by two kills from Deery.

Leading by eight and just two points shy of a win in the second set, Iowa found another kill from fourth-year Gracie Gibson, before forcing an attack error from Rutgers to take the second set 25-15.

The Hawkeyes closed out their sweep with a 25-20 win in the third set, which saw four lead changes and 10 tie scores.

Leading 21-19, Iowa brought themselves closer to victory with kills from Deery and first-year Malu Garcia. 

After a Rutgers timeout, the Scarlet Knights logged their last kill of the night, before a kill from Gibson and a block by Gibson and Urquhart sent Rutgers home, giving the Hawkeyes their first conference sweep of the season. 

Purdue

Iowa fell to Purdue in four sets on Saturday. The Hawkeyes maintained a strong presence in all four sets against the No. 10 Boilermakers, but ultimately came up short, winning only the second set.

First-year Malu Garcia recorded a milestone 20 kills for the Iowa offense, followed by fourth-year Gracie Gibson with 10. Galles boosted the defense with 12 digs.

In the first set, the Hawkeyes gained an early 2-0 lead off a kill from Garcia and a service ace from first-year Olivia Lombardi. Purdue brought momentum back in their favor, ultimately fending off Iowa’s attempts to close the gap and held on to take the first set 25-17.

The Hawkeyes came back to take the second set, leading the Boilermakers in kills, 16-13. Leading 24-17, Garcia ultimately logged the last one needed to nudge Iowa to a 25-19 set win, tying up the contest 1-1. 

Iowa trailed 24-14 as the third set drew to a close, but managed to muster a brief comeback, capitalizing on a Purdue attack error, tallying two kills from Deery and a service ace from first-year Jenna Meitzler. But one final kill from the Boilermakers gave them a 25-18 win in the third set.

Purdue managed to seal the deal in the fourth set, 25-21. Several Hawkeyes shone during the competition’s final set, including Garcia, who had four kills, and Gibson, who had three. 

“I’m proud of how we showed the potential of our team tonight,” head coach Jim Barnes told HawkeyeSports. “We had a chance in the fourth to push it to five but fell just short. I am proud of our blocking and how we won set two.

Up next

The Hawkeyes travel to Illinois to play Northwestern on Oct. 16. The game is slated to receive coverage from the Big Ten and Hawkeye Radio Networks.