Worden’s Career Night Leads Hawkeyes to Win over Michigan State

CORALVILLE, Iowa – University of Iowa volleyball took down Michigan State, 3-1, at Xtream Arena on Friday night. After dropping the first set 25-22, Iowa rattled off the next three, 27-25, 25-19, and 25-22.

The Hawkeyes improved to 11-10 overall and 2-7 in the Big Ten. The win snapped a seven-match losing skid and was Iowa’s first over Michigan State since the 2022 regular season finale. The 11 wins are the program’s most since 2016.

Redshirt sophomore Alyssa Worden had a career-high double-double in kills and digs. The native of Bartlett, Illinois, finished with a team-high 16 kills and 15 digs.

“I wanted to get this win for my team,” Worden said. “I wanted to prove to myself that I could be that player for us. I knew what kind of role I needed to play today and I had that goal leading into this game.”

“I’m so proud of Alyssa tonight,” head coach Jim Barnes said. “She was a game-time decision on getting the start. Alyssa played consistently well in practice and earned tonight’s start. She was the key to getting us over the top tonight.”

Three other Hawkeyes finished in double-figures in kills. Junior Hannah Whittingstall had a strong connection in the middle, converting on 14 kills on 25 swings. Whittingstall finished with a team-high five blocks. Freshman Carmel Vares notched 13 kills. Graduate Chard’e Vanzandt picked up her second double-double of the season with 12 kills and 10 digs.

Senior setter Claire Ammeraal capped the night with 53 assists, nine digs, six kills and three blocks. Senior libero Milana Moisio had 17 digs to lead the defensive effort. Sophomore Jaimie Marquardt collected 11 digs and contributed two assists and one ace.

Iowa out-hit Michigan State, .273-.234, and held the advantage in kills, 67-56. The Hawkeyes collected more aces, beating Michigan State, 7-4. The Spartans picked up more blocks by a narrow margin of 9-8.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH JIM BARNES
“We feel that we can compete with every team in this league and we showed it tonight against a really good team that has won a lot of games. We know that we’ve been really close, so it was good to put it together. One of the big keys tonight was that we were low error. The first set we had 12 errors, but after that we played much cleaner and Michigan State couldn’t get to 25 because of it. We played aggressive and clean and kept the ball in the court.”

MATCH SUMMARY
SET ONE (MICHIGAN STATE 25-22)
Vares picked up Iowa’s first two points with kills from the right side. Michigan State used a 6-0 burst to take an 8-3 lead, with Iowa calling a timeout to halt its momentum. Worden stopped the Spartan run out of the timeout. Iowa pulled within four at 13-9 after Michigan State’s first attacking error. Iowa trailed 22-17 and successfully challenged a block touch. The Hawkeyes saved four set points, forcing Michigan State to call a timeout at 24-22. The Spartans held on to win the set on a kill. Worden led the Hawkeye attack with six kills in the first set.

SET TWO (IOWA 27-25)
Vanzandt opened the scoring for the Hawkeyes with a set-opening kill. Off the serve of Stojanovic, Iowa used a 3-0 scoring run to find separation. Worden’s seventh kill of the night kept Iowa in front, 8-6. Stojanovic picked up her first kill of the night on a slide from Ammeraal moments later. After leading briefly earlier in the set, Michigan State regained the lead at 11-10 off an ace. Vanzandt’s fifth kill evened the set at 13-13. On the next play, a Whittingstall kill gave the Hawkeyes the lead. The 5-1 run propelled Iowa to a 15-13 lead at the media timeout. After Michigan State tied the set, Vanzandt picked up a kill from the left side to put Iowa back in front, 16-15. Iowa won the race to 20, holding a two point advantage at that point. A Stojanovic termination put Iowa up 21-19 and forced a Spartan timeout. Out of the timeout, Stojanovic served up an ace. Michigan State came back to tie the set at 22-22, before a kill from Vares broke the tie. An Ammeraal kill gave Iowa its first set point at 24-23. Michigan State ultimately saved two set points before Ammeraal aced the Spartans to seal the set.

SET THREE (IOWA 25-19)
Vares and Whittingstall stonewalled a Michigan State attack to put Iowa up 2-0. A 5-1 run from the Hawkeyes gave Iowa a 10-5 advantage and Michigan State burned its first timeout. The run ended at 9-1, with Iowa taking its largest lead of the night at 14-5. Whittingstall pummeled her ninth kill to keep Iowa in control at 18-11. A 3-0 run from the Spartans caused Iowa to call a timeout with the Hawkeyes leading 18-14. The Spartans hung around, but Iowa had an answer for every Michigan State rally. A kill from Vares and an ace from Stojanovic put Iowa up 22-17 and Michigan State called its final timeout of the set. The Spartans saved two set points before a kill from Whittingstall gave Iowa the set. The Hawkeyes hit a game-high .400, with 18 kills and two errors. Worden set her career high in kills in the third set.

SET FOUR (IOWA 25-22)
An ace from Marquardt gave Iowa its first lead of the set at 4-3. Stojanovic terminated out of the middle to expand Iowa’s lead to 10-5. Iowa reversed a call on a challenge to grow its lead at 14-10. A mini run from Michigan State brought the Spartans within one at 14-13 and Iowa called a timeout. The Hawkeyes used a 3-0 run to regain control of the set, with Whittingstall terminating on an overpass and forcing a Spartan timeout at 17-13. The Hawkeyes won the race to 20 off a block from Ammeraal and Whittingstall and a kill from Worden. Iowa led 23-17 before the Spartans rallied within two, saving four match points. A tip from Vanzandt secured the match for the Hawkeyes.

Up Next: Iowa hosts Rutgers on Sunday at Noon inside Xtream Arena. The match will be televised on the Big Ten Network and broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network.