CORALVILLE, Iowa – University of Iowa volleyball swept Rutgers on Friday night at Xtream Arena. The Hawkeyes improve to 9-8 overall and 3-2 in league play.
The Hawkeyes completed the season sweep of the Scarlet Knights, previously defeating Rutgers, 3-2, in Piscataway on Sept. 26. It is the Hawkeyes’ first sweep of a conference opponent since 2022 (Rutgers).
Iowa leaned on senior Michelle Urquhart, who had 13 kills on 31 total attacks. It is her sixth-consecutive match with double-digit kills. Sophomore Gabby Deery recorded a double-digit night with 11 kills. The Hawkeyes held Rutgers attacker Alissa Kinkela in check surrendering only 8 kills on 39 attempts after she set her career best in the previous meeting.
The middle duo of sophomore Hannah Whittingstall and senior Gracie Gibson established a productive presence for the Hawkeyes with nine and seven kills, respectively. Both Gibson and Whittingstall hit over .350. Freshman Jenna Meitzler ran an efficient offense, tallying 38 assists. Defensively, senior Joy Galles was relentless and would not let the ball hit the floor, recording 18 digs.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH JIM BARNES
“Every little step matters. I am proud of how hard we train. We talk about being Iowa 2.0, meaning constantly improving in different areas. We wanted to show up tonight and not get into two-point sets. The first set was, and that was our fault. The next two sets showed validation for our hard work. Michelle is playing like a senior on a mission. Her vision has been so good. She’s on another level right now.”
MATCH SUMMARY
SET ONE (27-25 IOWA)
The Hawkeyes started hot with a block and kill from Gibson. Rutgers would put pressure on Iowa, and the Hawkeyes lost the race to five, 5-2. Whittingstall would respond with two kills of her own, bringing Iowa within two at 7-5. Rutgers pushed three points across to win the race to 10. Kills from Deery, Gibson and freshman Malu Garcia inched the Hawkeyes closer at 11-9. After a few errors and trailing 13-10, Iowa turned on the boosters, going on a 6-0 run, to go in front 16-13. Despite a tight set on the race to 25, Iowa never surrendered the lead the rest of the set. Urquhart was on fire in set one, recording six kills and bringing Iowa to set point, at 24-23. After three match points, Meitzler closed out the set with an ace.
SET TWO (25-15 IOWA)
Deery started off set two strong with two kills and the Hawkeyes led 3-0. Iowa went up 7-2 on the Scarlet Knights with kills from freshman Malu Garcia and Urquhart before Rutgers tied the game at 7-all. Iowa took a timeout to regroup and came out strong, taking control of the set with an 11-1 lead to go up 18-8. During the run, Whittingstall recorded three consecutive kills. The Hawkeyes continued to push to 25 and two kills from Gibson would put the Hawkeyes at set point. An error by Rutgers would close out set two for Iowa.
SET THREE (25-20 IOWA)
Iowa carried the momentum from set two and got out to an early 5-2 lead with kills from Urquhart and Garcia. The Scarlet Knights came back to tie the set at six-all, but Iowa would not surrender the lead. Rutgers would push ahead with a few mini-runs before kills from Garcia, Whittingstall and Urquhart gave the Hawkeyes the lead at 15-14 heading into the media break. The set would remain tight with both teams going back and forth. Deery drilled her ninth and tenth kills to give Iowa the lead at 20-18. The Hawkeye offense could not be stopped with great defensive effort behind them. Iowa would close out the third set on a block and win the match.
UP NEXT: The Hawkeyes are back in action on Saturday, hosting No. 10 Purdue at 6 p.m. inside Xtream Arena. The match will be broadcast on B1G+ and the Hawkeye Radio Network.