Iowa Falls in 5 at Maryland

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – University of Iowa volleyball dropped a five-set match to Maryland on Thursday evening inside Schanwald Pavilion. The Hawkeyes fell, 20-25, 25-13, 22-25, 25-19, 10-15. Iowa moves to 12-5 and 1-2 in the Big Ten with the loss.

Rosa Vesty led the Iowa offense with a new career high of 19 kills on 38 swings. Liv Mogridge tallied 13 kills and hit at a .542 clip, with Hannah Whittingstall rounding out Hawkeyes in double figures with 10 kills. Whittingstall also tied her career high with four service aces. Jenna Meitzler posted her sixth double-double of the season, leading the team with 44 assists and 11 digs. 

Defensively, libero Henlee Moszkowicz joined Meitzler in double digits, recording 10 digs. Iowa out-blocked the Terrapins, 8-6, with Mogridge leading the way with five. 

There were 48 ties and 21 lead changes.

MATCH SUMMARY
SET ONE (MARYLAND 25-20)
Hallie Steponaitis quickly got Iowa on the board with back-to-back kills. Iowa reclaimed a 4-3 advantage on a kill by Marichka Hoshylyk, setting the tone for a tightly contested back-and-forth set that featured 16 ties and 8 lead changes. Hannah Whittingstall knotted the score at 10-10 on a block, then delivered a service ace to put Iowa up 12-10. Rosa Vesty was the primary source of Iowa’s offense and hammered a kill to give Iowa a 15-14 lead at the technical timeout. The Terrapins used a 4-0 run to push in front, 21-18, and did not look back, claiming the set 25-20.

SET TWO (IOWA 25-13)
Iowa reversed the momentum in the second set, with Liv Mogridge opening the scoring on a block. Vesty quickly halted an early push by the Terrapins with a kill before landing another to spark a decisive 8-0 Iowa run. Jaimie Marquardt’s serving kept Iowa in the lead through the Hawkeyes’ hot streak, with Whittingstall recording consecutive kills and Jenna Meitzler slamming one down to stretch the lead to 10-6. Mogridge stretched the lead to 15-9 with a kill heading into the media timeout before adding a block immediately following the break. Iowa closed out the set in commanding fashion with a pair of Maryland errors opening a double-digit lead at 23-13. Marquardt then sealed the 25-13 victory with a service ace to cap a set-ending 5-0 run. The Hawkeyes hit at a .560 clip, with 15 kills and just one error in the second set.
 
SET THREE (MARYLAND 25-22)
Maryland struck first with a kill, but Whittingstall put Iowa on the board and followed up with a pair of service aces to push the Hawkeyes to a 4-2 lead. Maryland responded to tie the score at 5-5, setting off a sequence of deadlocks throughout the set, featuring 17 total ties and 6 lead changes. The critical swing of the set came from 18-18 onward. Maryland reached 20 first at 20-19 to prompt an Iowa timeout, but Meitzler answered with a crafty second-contact kill to level the set at 21-21. The Terps then closed out the frame on a 3-0 run, sealing the 25-22 win.

SET FOUR (IOWA 25-19)
Vesty dominated early for the Hawkeyes, opening the set with a flurry of kills to put Iowa up, 5-3. After Maryland battled back, Whittingstall tied the set at 8-8 with a kill. Carmel Vares recorded her first kill of the night to make it 10-9, sparking a pivotal 5-0 Iowa run. On the very next play, Vesty notched her 17th kill of the match—surpassing her career high—to make it 11-9. Mogridge sent Iowa into the media timeout holding a 15-12 advantage with a kill, and the Hawkeyes kept control down the stretch. Meitzler and Mogridge teamed up for a block to open a five-point cushion at 21-16, and Mogridge added another kill as part of a 4-0 Hawkeye run to make it 23-17. Vares finished the set with a kill.

SET FIVE (MARYLAND 15-10)
Vares carried over her fourth-set momentum to put Iowa on the board first, 1-0, but Maryland quickly responded to take a 3-1 lead. Vesty then put down her 19th kill to pull Iowa back to a 3-3 tie. The Terps took control from there, stretching their lead to 10-6 to force an Iowa timeout. Mogridge and Vesty teamed up for a block to trim the deficit to 13-9, but Maryland held firm down the stretch to close out the final set and secure the match win, 15-10.

NOTABLES

• Rosa Vesty had a career-high 19 kills.
• Hannah Whittingstall served a team-high four aces to match her career best.
• Jenna Meitzler recorded her sixth double-double with 44 assists and 11 digs.
• Iowa moved to 1-1 in five-setters in 2026.

Up Next: Iowa (12-5) travels to No. 16 Penn State on Saturday. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT) inside Rec Hall.