2026 Big Ten Volleyball Media Day Transcript

Big Ten Volleyball Media Days
Monday, August 3, 2026
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Iowa Hawkeyes
Head Coach Jim Barnes
Fifth-Year Middle Hitter Liv Mogridge
Fourth-Year Middle Hitter Hannah Whittingstall
Press Conference

MODERATOR: We are joined by Iowa. Coach, if you want to start things off.

JIM BARNES: Welcome, everyone. Thanks for being here. It's such a pleasure and honor to be up here with these wonderful women, Liv Mogridge and Hannah Whittingstall our seniors. I know you have 18 teams running through here and a lot of conversations. Thank you for your time.

I want to start it off with a message to you guys. I talked about this with my players. You guys in particular, though. You all have talent, all have been given gifts. One of them I think is storytelling, right? I am encouraging you to go use the gifts you have to go and promote these women and what they do.

We have an incredible sport, incredible human beings that play in our sport. You got a great gift. You tell stories. You open people's eyes to different things. So make sure you use your gift for volleyball, Big Ten volleyball, and these ladies.

Really proud of this team that we're building. Proud of these captains that I've brought with us. We are making steps forward in Iowa turning into a volleyball school. I know people hear football and basketball quite a bit from us. That's why we came. We came to make people talk about volleyball.

We have a great group of players that came together in January. It’s the first time in my career that we didn't have one new player come in this summer. Our freshman graduated early and came in January. We also have two portal players. One came in in January, so our whole team has been working since then. We drew it up like a ladder. The ladder starts in January and ends in December. How far can we climb up it? I know we have the right team to get us as high as we can go.

Look forward to your questions. Thanks again for being here. I know you got a long day.

On what it is like playing for Coach Barnes and his optimism.

HANNAH WHITTINGSTALL: With my time with Jim, again the optimism has carried us so far. He stays positive. I think something so special about him is he truly believes in each individual player that he brings on. That gives every player confidence going into games and practices.

LIV MOGRIDGE: I agree with Hannah. His optimism is so infectious. It's really refreshing. Just to have a smile when we walk into the gym. As a player, I can be a little bit intense, I'm a little competitive. I feel like it's a good offset to be able to look at my coach and know he wants the best for me and every single one of my teammates.

On carrying forward from last season’s success.

JIM BARNES: Yeah, I think we return 13 from that team. We've added four more. So, I think they're on a mission. All of us who signed on to represent Iowa, we knew we were going to have to be on a mission to turn this program into something.

Last year, we made big strides. They're taking that experience and building on it. I know they're excited to get into the biggest tournament -- the NCAA one. We have a lot of big goals ahead of us.

Hannah, on her record-setting year last year, carrying that into this season.

HANNAH WHITTINGSTALL: I've been so privileged to be a part of what we're building here at Iowa. I truly believe that each year we've taken to step up. I'm just super excited with all the pieces that we've added from transfers and two freshmen who are so willing to work. I really think this year we can take another big step for Iowa and put our name on the map more.

Hannah on becoming a leader for the team.

HANNAH WHITTINGSTALL: Well, I'm surrounded by other great leaders, too. We have so many other amazing seniors on this team. We got to experience the leadership throughout this past summer.

It's been really fun just being able to work with our teammates, creating drills for our team. I'm excited for the senior season.

On five-for-five eligibility.

LIV MOGRIDGE: This is my fifth year, so I don't know how this rule will affect me. But it's definitely something I know younger players are very excited about.

HANNAH WHITTINGSTALL: I think the fifth year is a great opportunity for every athlete just to get another year of competition. I think going into this year, I'm still going to treat it like my senior season and play as hard as possible.

JIM BARNES: I think it's an advantage for our program. Every year they get to be seniors, we don't want to let go, so now we don't have to. We get them another year.

I like the way we develop our players over that time and how we treat them honestly so they want to be there a fifth year. I think it's a big advantage for what we tried to do for Iowa.

Liv on choosing Iowa for her fifth season.

LIV MOGRIDGE: What drew me to Iowa was definitely the people. I've never been surrounded by so many genuinely nice people. Our coaching staff was so open to helping players grow, just developing them into not just good players, but good humans.

I wanted to try something new. I had always been on the East Coast, so the Midwest is definitely new for me. It's been super fun and exciting.

Coach Barnes on new assistant coach Mackenzie Martin. 

JIM BARNES: Mackenzie Martin shout-out, I love it. She played for me at Tulane. When she was playing, she wanted to be like a lawyer or something really big. I said, ‘You really should coach’. Put that bug in her ear. Lo and behold, I helped her get into coaching. Got an assistant job at Liberty and I told her to work at it for a bit, see what happens after a year. It opened up.

Excited to have her. She was a heck of a player, a great bridge for our players to get to learn from. She played under me, too, so she's seen it both ways. I love to hire former players. They do a great job of building on what we do. She’s good quality human.

On the strength of the Big Ten Conference.

JIM BARNES: Yeah, there's some that left, I'm like, Good, they're out of here. But the league is so good. That's why we're here. It's such a talented league. Everybody around us, so dang good. That's what we aspire and wake up every day a little earlier, go a little harder to get to that level.

Yeah, I think that's why these ladies signed up for this gig as well. It's the best volleyball in the country. There's a lot of eyes on it. Ultimately you're with other people that are that committed. That's what is the joy of it, coming to the gym, everybody is very purposeful, everybody's got a mission.

Then to watch the Iowa Hawkeye fans start going, We've got a volleyball team? They start getting into volleyball and building that base. We have an incredible fan base. They've just been for other sports. To watch them turn their eyes to Hawkeye volleyball, it's fun for me and our players to wake them up to it. Our families are so excited about the process, too.

Coach Barnes on newcomers elevating the team.

JIM BARNES: Our newcomers are two portal players. Liv is one of them. Ksenija Tomic who played at Oregon. They bring some good experience, toughness.

Liv is an absolute beast. She's going to just take names every game. She'll be one of the middles that leads the team in kills, which we don't see often. Her first spring scrimmage, she had 20 kills in three sets. You'll see. She can bring it.

Ksenija is an all-around player that is going to come in on the left side, which we really needed to add to our roster.

Two freshmen that come in, a setter and a libero in Niki and Henlee. They came in roaring, ready to go with our 13 returning players. That's the key. Those guys have been through it. They've helped them get on board right away. So excited about that team, yeah.

On developing team chemisty.

HANNAH WHITTINGSTALL: I feel like it's so easy with our team. We're probably some of the closest friends outside of volleyball itself. I feel like the connection in the gym comes naturally just from hanging out so much.

Summer is a good opportunity to get time with everyone inside and outside the gym as well.

LIV MOGRIDGE: I agree. We did a really good job as a team just finding time to spend together, whether it was through open gyms, getting dinner together, even when we were working camps. It was just fun to be around each other.

On the toughest position to play.

HANNAH WHITTINGSTALL: I feel like setters carry a lot of responsibility just having to connect with each individual hitter and take in what everybody needs.

LIV MOGRIDGE: I think setters and liberos fill in a lot of gaps with your team. Definitely step in when it gets messy.

JIM BARNES: The tall girls talk about the shorter ones (smiling).

Coach Barnes on who will step up at the pins and plans at setter.

JIM BARNES: Yeah, good question on the pins. I'm excited to see who steps up. We have no returning pins. Carmel was a right side for us last year. We do have her returning. That's the question for our team.

We have a lot of talent there. So, watching how they emerge, I'm excited about that. In the end pins decide a lot. We'll see how they emerge. Like I said, we've got more talent there. Our setting position is so talented.

Jenna, our starting setter, is going to be a junior. She set a great deal of her freshmen year because Claire had gotten hurt. She comes in with an unusual amount of experience already.

Niki is one of our freshmen setters. Super talented. She is ready to step in the game any moment. Cold-blooded, fearless. Really excited about that group. On the pin, we'll see how it comes together. The talent's there, though.

Hannah on her blocking prowess.

HANNAH WHITTINGSTALL: I think just again like the coaches helped me so much last year being able to get to that point in general. I'm surrounded by great players in practice, too, that make my blocking a little bit harder. I think especially this one is going to challenge me with blocking this year, too.

Just again trusting in what the coaches are telling me, keep having that drive to do better and beat the record again - hopefully (smiling).

On the inaugural Big Ten Volleyball Tournament.

JIM BARNES: Yeah, I was a big proponent of it ever since I came in the league. I thought it would be a no-brainer as far as how exciting it would be. It would be another championship for these ladies to play for. I think the volleyball world is going to turn their eyes onto it. I was glad it finally went through. We had to talk some coaches into it.

I think it's going to be like, ‘Why didn't we start this earlier?’ I think it's exciting. It's one of our senior goals here, that was definitely one of them, getting that tournament and keep advancing so we can get in the NCAA tournament.

I know you mentioned the middle deal. I got to add on to that. I brought two middles. Why did we do that? We consider ourselves ‘Middle U’. We set our middles more than almost anybody in the country. Not only our conference. You can look at the stats. We set our middles a lot. I got two really talented ones that are going to make a lot of noise and be in the forefront.

I don't want to play as many five-setters. That's why we led in a lot of total stats because we played more volleyball than anyone in the country. We want to finish those games a little earlier.

We're going to be driven through the middle. Not only are they seniors and captains, but they play a position that we take a lot of pride in. Excited for that, too.

On a key difference over the summer that will lead to improvement.

HANNAH WHITTINGSTALL: I feel like this spring we introduced some ball control drills just to get us more consistency. I think that will be huge for us going into this next season.

LIV MOGRIDGE: I agree with Hannah, the ball control has definitely already made a difference. We're also working on connecting as blockers, middles and pins, getting a little more comfortable at the net together. I think that's only going to get better as the season goes.

On the toughest position in volleyball.

HANNAH WHITTINGSTALL: I feel like six-rotation outside because you carry a lot of responsibility.

LIV MOGRIDGE: Yeah, I'd agree. Outside, tackle and serve-receive.

JIM BARNES: By far coaching, it's the hardest job (smiling).

On the Big Ten and how to mentally go through the schedule.

JIM BARNES: Good question. I learned it in the Big 12 when I was at Baylor and we had Nebraska and Texas. It was a juggernaut back then. You can be playing great, but you're going to get hammered. You have to get off the mat and play somebody else who is great, somebody else who is great. How do you mentally get your team ready for those battles, then how do you get them off the mat and go back to work and beat that team that you can beat. It's the hardest thing in coaching that I've ever faced.

In other leagues you take a beating, but you can run off five or six wins. When you're building a program, that doesn't happen. It's the hardest thing to me in coaching, getting the mentality to understand that was a loss, get past it, let's get ready for the next one. Same in life, you're going to face things where you get hit in the face, you got to get up, take on the next challenge.

When we start putting those wins together, you start to see that confidence really come together. That's what we're looking for this year.

On what will be a key source of improvement this year.

HANNAH WHITTINGSTALL: I think we have so much talent in the middle, as I said. Peyton and Makena obviously are going to help us get better through the season. They've improved so much. It's great to see everyone just challenging each other in the gym every single day.

Again, during the spring and summer, our connection with setters has grown so much as well. I think that's going to separate us even more.

LIV MOGRIDGE: Yeah, I think also our pins are just such dynamic players. I think the more comfortable we get together in both positions, learning how to be the best they can at their respective roles, is going to make all the difference.

JIM BARNES: If you look at the numbers, we have to get to another level on the defensive side. We have to block better and stop people, score more on the defensive end. Our middles can block. What we're getting better at is the pin people blocking. They got to set the block, do a better job to slow down opponents. That's why their numbers are going to go up because I think our pin blockers are better and we'll slow teams up.

Iowa is known for defense, right, football? We have to be that wall up at the net, then just the determination not to let anything fall. We got to bring that football mentality to our team and get that defensive side to another level.

MODERATOR: Thank you.