Middles Dominate, Hawkeyes Sweep Army

WEST POINT, N.Y. – University of Iowa volleyball never trailed in its season-opening sweep of Army West Point on Friday night inside Christl Arena. The Hawkeyes downed the Black Knights 25-23, 25-15, 25-17.

Iowa’s middle hitters dominated the action, combining for 20 of the team’s 38 kills. Newcomer Liv Mogridge crushed 12 kills in her debut, while fourth-year Hannah Whittingstall notched eight on 13 swings and was error-free. Whittingstall was the most efficient Hawkeye, hitting .615. Mogridge was second at .579. Third-year Hallie Steponaitis produced the most firepower from the pins, smacking nine kills and hitting .571. As a team, the Hawkeyes hit .346 with 38 kills and 10 errors. Jenna Meitzler had all of Iowa’s 33 assists.

In her first career start at libero, Jaimie Marquardt set a career high with 14 digs. She was lights out from the service line, as well, sparking Iowa’s fast start to the match. Marichka Hoshylyk and Ksenija Tomic were solid in the back row, picking up nine and eight digs, respectively. The combination of Meitzler, Mogridge and Whittingstall was particularly strong at the net, leading Iowa to the advantage in blocks, 7-2. The Hawkeye defense held Army to a .009 hitting percentage.

There were seven ties in the match, including five in the first set, and no lead changes. The win was head coach Jim Barnes’ 499th career victory.

HEAR FROM COACH BARNES
“The first thing I’d like to say is that we heard from Army after the match and they told us how respectful our women were toward theirs and how impressed they were by that. To me, that’s a big deal. I am so proud of them for that. In the match, I loved how we responded after set one. We weren’t executing enough things and that kept the set close. When we started doing what we’d been training, we were able to blow it open. We crushed them in the middle and had a block that really intimidated them. We need to recognize three groups right off the bat. First, Olivia Larsen for our travel. We did not anticipate a 4 a.m. check-in time at our hotel this morning, but we adapted. Next, our middles in general for dominating. Then, Hallie was our player of the game.”

MATCH SUMMARY
SET ONE (IOWA 25-23)
Marquardt took to the service line to begin the match and got the Hawkeyes rolling right out of the gate. Iowa seized control early with a fast 4-0 start featuring a kill from Whittingstall and back-to-back blocks from Mogridge and Whittingstall. As Army clawed back in the set, Iowa turned to Mogridge to slow the rally and regain the lead at 5-4. A lengthy run ensued as Hoshylyk smacked her first kill to put Iowa up, 9-4. The Hawkeyes led, 15-10, at the media timeout. The Black Knights rallied to knot the set at 15-15, but Iowa leaned on its middle attack to regain control. The set continued to be back and forth and was tied one last time at 23-23. Army committed an error before Rosa Vesty ended the set with a kill. Mogridge blasted five kills and Whittingstall added three, anchoring a middle unit that hit an efficient 8-of-13 without an error. Iowa hit .226 as a team in the opening frame compared to .000 for the Black Knights.

SET TWO (IOWA 25-15)
Set two was dominated by Iowa from the start. Meitzler sparked a 5-1 run with a kill and an ace, and a powerful strike from Steponaitis ballooned the lead to 6-2. The Black Knights committed several errors and Iowa eventually built its largest lead at 16-5 on the way to a runaway 25-15 victory. The Hawkeyes caught fire offensively, hitting .450 with 11 kills and just two errors, while stifling the Black Knights and holding them to a .031 hitting percentage.

SET THREE (IOWA 25-17)
The Hawkeyes carried their momentum from set two into what would be the final set of the match. Iowa made a pair of substitutions to begin the set as Henlee Moszkowicz and Carmel Vares saw action. A Meitzler kill to open the set sparked a 3-0 start. After Army briefly tied things at 5-5, Mogridge delivered her 10th kill of the night to regain the lead, followed quickly by a dunk from Tomic to force an Army timeout at 9-5. The Black Knights inched closer, but the Hawkeyes returned to their bread and butter in the middle on a Whittingstall slide. Iowa’s block also reappeared with Mogridge and Whittingstall stuffing another Army attack. The Hawkeyes led 15-10 at the media break. Steponaitis carried Iowa down the stretch, building the team’s lead to 20-14. Though Army pieced together a late 3-0 run to narrow the gap to 20-17, Tomic answered with a solo block, igniting a closing 5-0 run to seal the match. The Hawkeyes hit .379, while Army finished the final set hitting -.028.

NOTABLES

• Iowa is 5-0 in season openers under Coach Barnes.
• Friday night’s victory was the 499th of Coach Barnes’ head coaching career.
• Iowa leads the all-time series against Army, 2-1.
• Libero Jaimie Marquardt posted a career high in digs with 14.
• Iowa held Army to .009 hitting percentage and outblocked the Black Knights, 7-2.
• After committing six errors in the first set, the Hawkeyes settled in and combined for four in sets two and three.
• Liv Mogridge, Henlee Moszkowicz and Ksenija Tomic made their Iowa debuts.

Up Next: Iowa (1-0) continues competition at the Black Knight Invitational with its first-ever match against UAlbany on Saturday. First serve is set for 2 p.m. (CT) inside Christl Arena.