IOWA CITY — The Iowa volleyball team failed to build on the momentum of its first Big Ten victory of the season as it dropped both matches of a weekend road swing last week.
Iowa's Henlee Moszkowicz receives the serve during an NCAA volleyball match against Milwaukee at Xtream Arena in Coralville on Tuesday, Sept. 22.
The Hawkeyes dropped a match to Maryland 3-2 (25-20, 13-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-10) on Thursday.
“Just an opportunity we didn’t seize on the road against Maryland,” Barnes said. “Had many chances to get that match, and our team is still learning how to finish some close sets — especially there against Maryland. The sets we won, we blew them out. Then, the tight sets down the stretch we didn’t execute to finish it off. We had many opportunities to win it in three or four before we got to five.”
In the two sets Iowa won, it held Maryland to .138 and .281 hitting percentages, respectively. In sets it lost, Iowa allowed the Terrapins to hit .345, .431 and .400. Conversely, the Hawkeyes hit .150, .237 and -.056 in losses and .652 and .455 in sets won.
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On Saturday, Iowa jumped out in front of No. 16 Penn State with a 25-22 win in set one before falling in each of the next three to drop the match 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-19).
Barnes saw his team fail to keep the pressure on the Nittany Lions after securing the first set.
“We put pressure on them in one, came out in the second and then we come out unfocused, and we give up a 5-0 lead,” Barnes said. “I go, now you let them relax. Now, they think they got this. Until we learn that mentality is that when you knock the breath out of them, you just cannot let them breathe again. You have to continue to keep that pressure on them so they never feel comfortable or you’re going to have to dig deep and find some five-set win. We have to learn that mentality.”
After winning the first set, Iowa never held a lead in the final three sets of the contest.
Barnes hopes experiencing firsthand what happens when pressure is not applied throughout a match will help his team moving forward.
“Experience is a hard and good teacher,” Barnes said. “Us, as coaches, are doing everything we can to accelerate that, putting them in positions in practice, rehearsing that, going over the technical parts, the mental parts — all the parts that are going to get us to being a little more consistent, because that's the whole deal.”
Barnes believes that consistency is what still separates Iowa from competing regularly with the Big Ten’s best.
“We, physically, can match up,” Barnes said. “Before there was many times, physically, we didn't come close to matching up, but we can do it physically, and we have the skill to do it as well. It's just like if every player was 1% more consistent, we'd be winning all these games, and so it's learning that consistency and the mentality of hey, we got a team where we want it. Let's keep the gas pedal down and continue to put pressure on them.”
The Hawkeyes (12-6, 1-3 Big Ten) stay on the road this weekend for matches against Michigan (10-5, 1-3 Big Ten) and Michigan State (13-1, 3-1 Big Ten).
Barnes called it another opportunity for Iowa to nab its first Big Ten road win of the season.
“I like how we match up with Michigan,” Barnes said. “There’s certainly some advantages for us.”
He expects Iowa to lean on its serve-pass efficiency, an area Barnes said the Hawkeyes have won against every opponent this season according to the program’s internal statistics.
“We continue to beat every team in serve and pass — even Penn State,” Barnes said. “… We’ve got some leverage on that side of it. I expect to do that against these teams as well. As our block and our defense get more and more consistent, we’re going to be able to score enough. Our offense has been pretty consistent. … We need to win that serve-pass like we’ve been doing, but we got to continue to pick up the blocking and defense.”
The Hawkeyes face the Wolverines at 6 p.m. on Friday and the Spartans at noon on Sunday. Both matches will be available on Big Ten+ and the Hawkeye Radio Network.
Ethan Petrik is a University of Iowa beat writer for the Lee Enterprises network. Follow him on X or send him an email at ethan.petrik@wcfcourier.com.
