THIS WEEK
Iowa travels to Ames on Sept. 11, to play Iowa State in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series at Hilton Coliseum at 6:30 p.m. (CT). The Hawkeyes then head to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Sept. 13-15, to play in the Panther Invitational at the Klotsche Center. Iowa will begin the tournament Friday, battling St. Thomas at 4:00 p.m. The Hawkeyes will go head-to-head with Illinois State on Saturday at noon and conclude the weekend against UW-Milwaukee on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
- ESPN+ (subscription required) will stream Sunday’s match against UW-Milwaukee.
- The Hawkeyes’ matches against St. Thomas and Illinois State will be streamed live on the Milwaukee Panthers YouTube channel.
- Iowa’s matches will be available on the Hawkeye Radio Network (YouTube) with John Evans on the call. Broadcasts are complete with a pre-match show and post-match interview with Coach Barnes.
- Live stats for each contest can be found on the volleyball schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.
- Updates and recaps can be found on Iowa Volleyball’s social media platforms.
SCOUTING IOWA STATE
- Iowa State is 3-2 in 2024, with wins over Pacific, Toledo, and Wake Forest.
- Sophomore Nayeli Gonzalez leads the Cyclones with 68 kills through 23 sets played.
- Junior Morgan Brandt paces the offense with 189 assists through five matches.
- Freshman Rachel Van Gorp leads the Cyclones with 84 digs after the first two weekends of play.
- The Cyclones finished 20-10 last season, finishing fourth in the Big 12 conference and earning a bid to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament where they fell in the opening round to the University of Hawaii.
- Christy Johnson-Lynch enters her 20th year as the head coach for the Cyclones, posting a 370-201 record in her tenure with the program.
SCOUTING ST. THOMAS
- St. Thomas has a 3-3 record, with wins over Tarleton State, Valparaiso and Northern Illinois. The Tommies play Minnesota on Tuesday, September 10th.
- Senior Lauren Galvin leads the Tommies with 77 kills through seven matches.
- Sophomore Morgan Kealy runs the offense with 205 assists through 22 sets and leads the team with seven service aces.
- Leading the defense is junior Ella Voegele with 129 digs through seven matches.
- The Tommies finished 7-20 last season, going 3-13 in The Summit League.
- Head coach Thanh Pham enters his 22nd year with St. Thomas, with a 14-71 record at the Division I level when St. Thomas transitioned in 2021.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE
- Illinois State opens the 2024 season with a 3-4 record with wins over Bellarmine, Xavier, and Army.
- Junior Aida Shadewald leads the Redbirds with 100 kills and 13 service aces through 28 sets played.
- Facilitating the offense is senior Mekaila Aupiu with 273 assists through seven matches.
- Junior Samantha Bunch is holding down the defense with 99 digs through 28 sets played.
- The Redbirds finished the 2023 season 12-19, going 10-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
- Allie Matters enters her third year as the head coach of the Redbird volleyball program. She has a 24-36 record at Illinois State.
SCOUTING MILWAUKEE
- Milwaukee is 3-3 going into its third week of play with wins over Western Illinois, Northern Illinois, and Weber State. The Panthers play Wisconsin on Tuesday, September 10th.
- Junior Natalie Schmitz and senior Madi Malone lead the Panthers in kills with 65 and 61, respectively, through six matches played.
- In 23 sets, junior Josie Johnson runs the offense with 106 assists.
- Leading the defense is junior Kara Erdmann with 95 digs, recording 4.13 digs per set through 23 sets.
- In the 2023 season, the Panthers went 21-12, going 13-5 in the Horizon League.
- Susie Johnson enters her 28th season with the Panthers, the last 17 seasons as the head coach. Johnson holds a 285-212 head coaching record with a 511-282 overall record as a coach.
HAWKEYE TRANSFERS
- Joy Galles comes to Iowa as a graduate transfer from the University of Arizona. Galles appeared in 52 matches as a Wildcat, tallying 180 digs and 57 assists in 2023.
- Kenya Prescott joins the Hawkeyes as a transfer from DMACC. She holds the career school records for digs (1,561) and digs per set (5.80) at DMACC. In two seasons, Prescott played in 76 matches and averaged 5.80 digs per set.
- Claire Ammeraal transfers in from Central Michigan, where she played in 63 matches. The junior setter had over 1,000 assists as a sophomore and registered 168 kills in 2023. She has surpassed 2,000 career assists since joining the Hawkeyes.
- Hannah Whittingstall arrives in Iowa City after spending her freshman year at SMU. Whittingstall put on a show against Houston in 2023, setting career highs in kills (9) and total attacks (22). The sophomore hit .583% against Baylor a season ago.
- Gracie Gibson is a graduate transfer from Lafayette College, appearing in matches in all four seasons as a Leopard. Entering the season, the veteran had played in 79 matches and averaged 1.71 kills per set in her career.
UP NEXT
Iowa hosts the Kwik Star Klassic at Xtream Arena Sept. 19-21. The Hawkeyes will play South Dakota on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. (CT), Saint Louis University on Friday at 6:00 p.m. and Drake on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.