Iowa volleyball snapped a seven-match losing streak with Friday night’s win over Michigan State at Coralville’s Xtream Arena. The Hawkeyes improved to 11-10 on the season with their second conference victory of the season.

Third-year Alyssa Worden led the offense with a double-double of 16 kills and 15 digs, career-highs in both categories. Worden was followed by third-year Hannah Whittingstall with 14 kills, first-year Carmel Vares with 13 kills, and sixth-year Chard’e Vanzandt with a double-double of 12 kills and 10 digs.

“I think we really all put it out there,” Worden told The Daily Iowan. “You could see every individual playing as hard as they possibly could. I think that’s why we got the win tonight.”

Set One

Iowa started with some momentum, putting the first point of the evening on the board and gaining a 3-2 lead, but Michigan State retaliated with a 6-0 run to gain a five-point lead and force the first timeout of the set.

The Hawkeyes’ offense showed signs of heating up out of the break, with timely kills from Worden and Vares keeping Iowa afloat. Towards the end of the set, however, a successful challenge from the Spartans on a touch tipped the scales back in their favor.

Trailing, 24-18, Iowa seized a 4-0 run of its own to cut the gap to two points, but Michigan State’s earlier momentum held, giving the Spartans a 25-22 victory in the first set.

Set Two

The Hawkeyes embarked on a scoring run of their own to open the second set, racing from a 3-1 deficit to a 5-3 lead. 

Unlike the first set, which saw Michigan State dominate with its early momentum, Iowa held steady in the second, narrowly crossing the 10-point threshold first to establish a 10-9 lead. Later, the Hawkeyes shattered a 13-13 tie to create a two-point edge going into the media timeout.

After a fiercely competitive battle, both teams found themselves headed to extra points. Second-year Aleksandra Stojanovic scored a kill to give Iowa the advantage and, one play later, fourth-year Claire Ammeraal delivered a service ace to nab a 27-25 Hawkeye victory.

Set Three

Iowa came out strong to start the third set, soaring to a 10-5 lead and forcing an early timeout from Michigan State. The Hawkeyes’ momentum only increased from here, however, with Iowa upping its scoring run to 7-0 before Michigan State responded, making the score 14-6.

While the ferocious second set featured 13 ties and four lead changes, the third set included none of neither. The Hawkeyes’ early lead held up against the Spartans’ hustle through the end of the third set, with a blank sealing the deal.

Iowa entered the fourth set of the night with a 2-1 advantage, boosted by a momentous 25-19 triumph in the third.

“I wanted to win tonight,” fourth-year Milana Moisio said. “Whatever it took, I was [going to] win it for my team. Everyone was engaged, everyone did their job, and we needed that to win.”

Set Four

The fourth set started as competitive as ever, with three ties and a lead change before either team had even reached 10 points. After a kill from Whittingstall broke a 4-4 tie, however, the Hawkeyes raced to an 11-5 lead that the Spartans couldn’t recover from.

Although Michigan State closed the gap to as little as a 14-13 deficit, Iowa’s momentum remained intact through the end of the set. Equipped with a 24-22 lead, Vanzandt put up one final kill to nudge the Hawkeyes over the finish line, 25-22.

Up next

Iowa remains in Coralville for Sunday’s contest against Rutgers. The game is set to commence at 12:00 p.m. local time at Xtream Arena, with coverage provided by the Big Ten Network.

“We’ve been really close and we’ve known it,” head coach Jim Barnes said. “We’ve been really close. It was good to put it together.”