Iowa volleyball improved to 12-10 on the season with a comeback win over Rutgers on Sunday afternoon at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa. Despite trailing by two sets early on, the Hawkeyes rallied to win their first five-set match since an Aug. 30 contest against Utah Tech.

Third-year Hannah Whittingstall led the offense with a double-double of 14 kills and 10 blocks. Third-year Alyssa Worden also nabbed a double-double of 10 kills and 10 digs. First-year Carmel Vares and sixth-year Chard’e Vanzandt tallied 12 and 11 kills, respectively.

Fourth-year Claire Ammeraal racked up 43 assists, having surpassed 3,000 career assists earlier this season. Defensively, fourth-year Milana Moisio put up nine digs of her own, while second-year Aleksandra Stojanovic mustered eight digs.

Set One

Rutgers took to the court with a hot start, capitalizing on two separate 4-0 scoring runs to jump out to an early 11-5 lead. Iowa subsequently called its first timeout of the set to re-group, coming out of the break determined to chip away at the gap.

The Hawkeyes forced two errors from the Scarlet Knights to cut the lead to five points and later, still trailing by six, embarked on an explosive 5-0 run of their own, bookended by kills from Whittingstall and Worden.

Despite Iowa’s best efforts, Rutgers’ early momentum allowed the Scarlet Knights to retain their edge through the end of the set, and another 3-0 run gave them a 25-20 victory in the first.

Set Two

While Rutgers again got on the board to start the second set, a 3-0 run from Iowa gave the Hawkeyes some momentum of their own to work with. Leading, 8-5, an attack error from the Scarlet Knights and Worden’s third kill of the day pushed the Hawkeyes into double digits.

After a 4-0 scoring run from Rutgers closed Iowa’s lead to 10-9, the Hawkeyes took their first timeout. Both squads traded points upon returning to the court, resulting in 11 ties and six lead changes in the second set alone.

Equipped with a 22-21 lead, kills from Vares and Vanzandt put Iowa at set point, but a Rutgers comeback deadlocked the score at 24, leading to a 26-24 Scarlet Knights triumph in extra points.

Set Three

Iowa entered the third set determined to avoid a sweep by Rutgers. While both teams were again evenly matched early on, a kill from Stojanovic put the Hawkeyes across the 10-point marker first, while an attack error from the Scarlet Knights extended the gap to four points.

While Rutgers kept within striking distance early on, Iowa, spurred on by another 6-0 scoring run, rode its momentum to a colossal 20-10 lead, where not even a timeout could save the Scarlet Knights.

After two sets of attempts to come from behind to win, the Hawkeyes kept themselves alive with a win in the third set, 25-16, boosted by Vanzandt’s eighth kill of the day.

“We shouldn’t have lost that second set,” head coach Jim Barnes told The Daily Iowan. “We really should have finished that one up. We showed a lot of fight, coming back and finding a way to get a win.”

Set Four

The hitting only picked up in the fourth set as both teams battled ferociously for every point. 

With the score tied at nine apiece, Iowa gained a slight 10-9 edge off a Rutgers service error. 

Moments later, a kill from Whittingstall and a block assist from Whittingstall and Vares intensified the Hawkeye lead to three points.

Despite Iowa’s lead stretching to as much as five points in the fourth set, Rutgers hung on and pushed its way to a 20-19 deficit, forcing a Hawkeye timeout.

Although the Scarlet Knights tied the set at 20 points, two timely kills from Whittingstall put Rutgers back on the defensive and forced a timeout of its own. 

Iowa’s last timeout came when Rutgers tied the fourth set, 23-23, putting the Hawkeyes’ ambitions for a fifth set in jeopardy. After a fierce back-and-forth extended into extra points, Ammeraal’s seventh kill of the day and an unsuccessful challenge by the Scarlet Knights on an attack error gave the Hawkeyes the 27-25 win in the fourth, confirming a fifth set.

Set Five

Rutgers started the fifth set with a 3-0 run, quickly forcing Iowa’s first timeout. The Hawkeyes responded with a 4-0 run of their own to take their first lead of the set, though the Scarlet Knights quickly closed the gap.

Another 4-0 run from Iowa put the Hawkeyes up by two points going into a media timeout, with another pair of kills from Vanzandt and two attack errors from the Scarlet Knights extending the run to 8-0 after the break.

Despite the Hawkeyes not having won a five-set match since August, Iowa kept its composure and closed out the final set with a 15-9 win, boosted by a 9-0 run.

“I think for a second there was a little rut,” Whittingstall said. “I think we’re on the up, and I’m excited to see what we can do in these next few weeks.”

Up Next

Iowa hits the road for a four-game road trip, starting at 7 p.m. on Oct. 31 at Northwestern, followed by Illinois at 1 p.m. on Nov. 2.

Both contests are set to receive coverage from Big Ten Plus, as well as the Hawkeye Radio Network.

“The beginning of our conference season wasn’t what we wanted,” Ammeraal said. “We had a lot of close games. It feels like our season was on that teeter-totter, could go either way. It was finally good to see some results.”