Hawkeyes Sweep Sacred Heart, Win Black Knight Invitational

WEST POINT, N.Y. – University of Iowa volleyball swept Sacred Heart on its way to winning the Black Knight Invitational on Sunday morning inside Christl Arena. The Hawkeyes beat the Pioneers 25-20, 25-20, 25-19.

This is the second year in a row that Iowa has started 3-0 and won its season-opening tournament.

Fifth-year Liv Mogridge led the team with 12 kills on 19 swings. Carmel Vares and Ksenija Tomic rose to the occasion on the left side and combined for 19 kills. Vares hit .417 with 11 kills on 24 swings, while Tomic contributed eight kills. Hallie Steponaitis wrapped up her stellar weekend with six kills. Setter Jenna Meitzler stuffed the stat sheet with 36 assists, five blocks, three digs and three kills.

On the defensive front, Iowa’s block dominated the match, totalling 14 across the three sets. Mogridge led the way with eight blocks, while fellow middle Whittingstall had six. Libero Jaimie Marquardt was the lone Hawkeye with double-digit digs, collecting 16. Tomic was strong in the back row with eight.

The Hawkeyes finished with a .304 hitting percentage and held the Pioneers in check at .132. Iowa drilled 44 kills and committed only 10 errors. Sacred Heart tallied 33 kills and had 19 errors.

Hallie Steponaitis was named the tournament MVP, recording 27 kills and a .471 hitting percentage to lead the pins. She also had eight blocks, seven digs and four aces. Liv Mogridge and Hannah Whittingstall landed on the all-tournament team. Mogridge hit .443 with 33 kills from the middle and had 13 blocks. Whittingstall tallied 25 kills over the weekend and committed only one error to hit .511. 

MATCH SUMMARY
SET ONE (IOWA 25-20)
Carmel Vares opened the match with a kill, setting the tone as Iowa's left side attack took charge early. Trailing 6-5 following a 4-0 Pioneers run, Ksenija Tomic sparked a response with a pair of kills that leveled the score at 6-6 and gave Iowa the lead at 8-7. The Hawkeyes used a balanced attack and stingy defense, highlighted by a block from Liv Mogridge and Hallie Steponaitis, to build separation. Out of the media timeout leading 15-13, Tomic took over with a block and a kill that forced a Sacred Heart timeout at 17-13. A service ace from Jaimie Marquardt pushed the lead to 24-18, and Vares finished off the set with another kill. Tomic paced Iowa with five kills, five digs, and one block in the opener as the Hawkeyes out-hit the Pioneers .235 to .089.

SET TWO (IOWA 25-20)
Iowa seized control early in the second frame, using a decisive 5-0 run capped by a Mogridge kill to jump ahead 6-2. Steponaitis added a left-side kill to make it 7-3, and Whittingstall punished an over pass to extend the margin to 9-4. Service aces from Steponaitis sandwiched a Meitzler kill to widen the gap to 13-5. Vares sent the teams to the media break ahead 15-7 with a left-side strike. Despite a late 6-1 push by Sacred Heart that threatened to narrow the gap, Mogridge sealed the 25-20 win with her fifth kill of the set.

SET THREE (IOWA 25-19)
The Hawkeyes jumped out to a fast 3-0 start behind a Vares kill, a Marquardt ace and a joint block by Mogridge and Vares. Sacred Heart clawed back to within one at 9-8, but Vares answered with her 11th kill of the match to maintain a 13-11 advantage. A net violation by the Pioneers handed Iowa a 15-14 edge at the media timeout. Down the stretch, the Hawkeyes' net defense slammed the door with consecutive blocks from Tomic, Mogridge and Steponaitis. A final block by Whittingstall and Vares pushed the score to 23-18, and a service error by Sacred Heart propelled Iowa to the win.

NOTABLES

• Iowa won the Black Knight Invitational with sweeps over Army and Sacred Heart.
• The Hawkeyes defeated UAlbany on Saturday.
• It is the second year in a row that Iowa has swept its season-opening tournament and started 3-0.
• Hallie Steponaitis was named tournament MVP. Hannah Whittingstall and Liv Mogridge landed on the all-tournament team.
• Henlee Moszkowicz made her first start, while Greta Schlichter made her season debut.

Up Next: Iowa (3-0) clashes with Mississippi State in Starkville on Thursday for its first match in the 2026 Allstate Big Ten/SEC Volleyball Challenge.