McGrew, Vanzandt Power Offense in Sweep of Lindenwood

CORALVILLE, Iowa – University of Iowa volleyball picked up its seventh sweep of the season, taking down Lindenwood on Sunday afternoon at Xtream Arena. Iowa improved to 9-3 with the win. The nine nonconference wins are the program’s most since the 2014 season.

Iowa’s offense was led by graduate student Chard’e Vanzandt and her 12 kills and three aces. Freshman Gia McGrew contributed eight kills on 15 swings. Nine Hawkeyes recorded kills in the sweep of the Lions. Five Hawkeyes hit at or above .400. Senior Claire Ammeraal had 30 assists, seven kills and five digs.

Senior libero Milana Moisio led a strong back row for the Hawkeyes with 10 digs and four assists. Iowa out-blocked Lindenwood, 7-4. Freshman Peyton Young and sophomore Aleksandra Stojanovic led the team with three blocks.

There were only four ties and two lead changes in the match. Iowa hit .351 on 44 kills and 11 errors, while holding Lindenwood to .149. The 25-11 set two win matched Iowa’s largest margin of victory this season, tying the first set against Murray State on Sept. 12.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH JIM BARNES
“We came in and took care of business. Our defense and serve receive were much better, which allowed our offense to execute at a high level. We talk about having six arms going, and we can say that because of our setter that can get us kills. We were able to display that in the second set and won it, 25-11. When we can pass well and play good defense, we have a good formula for success.”

MATCH SUMMARY
SET ONE (IOWA 25-21)
Iowa stormed out to an early 6-3 lead off three kills from Vanzandt. Ammeraal was aggressive at the net, drilling a pair of kills early to complement the outside presence of Vanzandt. Iowa largely controlled the short rallies between both teams. McGrew terminated two balls to give Iowa a 10-4 lead. She continued to find gaps in the Lion defense with another pair of kills to extend Iowa’s lead to 12-7. At the media timeout, Iowa led 15-10 following a Lion service error. Junior Hannah Whittingstall tallied her second kill from the middle to put Iowa up, 18-13. Iowa led 24-18 after a block from Stojanovic and Vanzandt gave Iowa set point. The Lions fought off three set points before Stojanovic stuffed an attack to give Iowa set one. McGrew and Vanzandt led the offense, recording nine of the team’s 14 kills. Iowa hit .324 with only three errors.

SET TWO (IOWA 25-11)
Lindenwood won the first two points of the set before Iowa took control. Whittingstall and Ammeraal tied the set with two kills. McGrew found another hole in the defense to start Iowa’s 8-0 run that swung the set. Vanzandt lofted a soft service ace over the net and Lindenwood used a timeout with Iowa up 10-4. Out of the timeout, Vanzandt hit the back line with another ace. Freshman Carmel Vares hammered an in-system ball for her second kill and Stojanovic capitalized again from the middle to blow open the set. The Lions ended the Iowa scoring run with a kill. McGrew dented the floor with her seventh kill on the next play. A 5-0 Iowa run with a mix of Lindenwood errors, Iowa kills, and an ace from Jaimie Marquardt pushed Iowa’s lead to 22-8. Young entered the set late for the Hawkeyes and destroyed a ball from Ammeraal to win the set. Iowa hit .571 and held the Lions to a .250 clip.

SET THREE (IOWA 25-21)
Iowa got an early 2-0 lead after a Vanzandt kill and block from Ammeraal and Young. Iowa kept the pressure applied with a 6-1 run to start the set, helped in large part by three Lindenwood errors. Another ace from Vanzandt and Hallie Steponaitis’ first kill continued to grow the Hawkeyes’ lead to 9-2. A service error from the Lions put Iowa up 10-3. Vanzandt’s 11th kill sent the set into the media timeout with Iowa up 15-10. The Lions found a little momentum, pulling within two at 17-15 before a service error halted their run. The Hawkeyes won the race to 20 on a kill from Ammeraal. A late 5-0 run from Lindenwood got the Lions back within one, but an Iowa timeout slowed the momentum. The Hawkeyes responded after the timeout with three straight points to close the set and win the match.

Vanzandt was named the Hawkeye Invitational MVP after posting 22 kills on 38 attempts and hitting .500 with only three errors in five sets played. She led the team with three aces during the weekend.

All-tournament selections Ammeraal, McGrew, and Moisio helped lead the Hawkeyes to back-to-back wins at home. Ammeraal totaled 63 assists, 13 digs and 12 kills throughout the weekend. McGrew recorded 15 kills and seven digs. Moisio held down the defense with a team-high 27 digs and seven assists in the two wins.

Up Next: Iowa opens Big Ten play on Thursday against Maryland at Xtream Arena. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m. (CT) and will be broadcast on B1G+ and the Hawkeye Radio Network.