IOWA CITY — It’s not every day that Jim Barnes receives a gift from an opposing coach. But West Florida head coach Melissa Wolter gave the Iowa volleyball head coach a Scheels gift card at the Kwik Star Klassic last week in Coralville.
Iowa head coach Jim Barnes directs his server during an NCAA volleyball match against Southern Illinois at Xtream Arena in Coralville on Thursday, Sept. 10.
According to Barnes, Wolter gave him the gift card because the Argonauts (8-2) struggled to line up marquee opponents after their move from Division II to Division I.
“That Coach was very gracious because she’s been turned down by a lot of upper schools because they don’t want to play her,” Barnes told the Quad-City Times on Monday. “She gave me a Scheels card. It was really nice. She was so thankful that we stuck with her and allowed her to play in it.”
West Florida lived up to Barnes’ expectations, finishing second in the tournament and pushing Iowa to five sets in Friday’s opener.
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In front of more than 1,500 fans on Field Trip Day, Iowa prevailed 20-25, 25-16, 25-19, 18-25, 15-10.
“People just read the cover and they have no idea what they’re actually trying to understand,” Barnes said. “That program’s been good for a long time.”
Barnes knew enough to be on high alert leading into the match.
“And I guarantee you all three of us coaches who were going to play them that weekend — that was the team we were most fearful of, as far as, going into it and not knowing how good they could be,” Barnes said. “I knew what they were returning and how they’ve been coached that they were going to be tough. We gave them some points there to keep them in it a little bit, but they played great and (are) really well-coached.”
The Argonauts appeared in the last 19 NCAA Division II tournaments, including five Sweet 16 appearances. They finished first in the Gulf South Conference regular season standings every year since 2015, won the last eight GSC tournament titles and have won 129 consecutive home regular-season conference matches dating to 2009.
Barnes said he anticipates West Florida will have plenty more success at the Division I level and in its new home in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
“They’ll go win a bunch of games in D1,” Barnes said. “They proved themselves. … I was not surprised at their success.”
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.
