IOWA CITY — Jim Barnes felt confident about his middle hitters going into the 2026 season. At least, he felt confident enough in Hannah Whittingstall and Liv Mogridge to call Iowa “Middle Hitter U” at Big Ten volleyball media days in Chicago last month.
He also called the pins the Hawkeyes’ biggest question mark ahead of his fifth season at the helm.
Four weeks later, Barnes said one of his biggest discoveries is how much playable depth Iowa has throughout its lineup.
“What I do love is that at every position we have someone who can play on gameday if someone is faltering,” Barnes told the Quad-City Times.
This weekend alone, Barnes said he saw Carmel Vares, Peyton Young, Allison Berent and Marichka Hoshylyk prove valuable play off the bench.
They also have depth behind setter Jenna Meitzler, who claimed Kwik Star Klassic tournament MVP honors last week with 120 assists, 21 digs, 15 blocks, 11 kills and three aces.
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“(Nikolija Bulatovic) is ready at any time to go in and set,” Barnes said. “She hasn’t got many reps so it’s hard for her to get comfortable, but that kid can really play.”
Freshman libero Henlee Moszkowicz continues to improve after taking over the starting job two weeks ago too.
“She is actually very stable as a freshman — as stable as you could ask for,” Barnes said. “She’s very vocal, she’s really consistent and you’re seeing her start to edge up in passing and defense. … That’s why we’ve kept her in there to let her grow and the team responds to her really well. That was one of the big elements of why we went to her because of her consistent, confident communication.”
The Magnolia, Texas native had 65 digs and 15 assists in four matches last week while former starting libero Jaimie Marquardt appeared in all 15 sets as a defensive specialist.
Mogridge (128 kills, .339 hitting percentage) and Whittingstall (112 kills, .392 hitting percentage) also backed up their coach’s “Middle Hitter U” claims and made Iowa the only Power 4 program to be led in kills by two middles.
With multiple options at every position, Barnes said he feels confident with his team going into conference play this weekend.
“That depth really gives us a little bit of peace of mind that we’re not going to have to just ride or die,” Barnes said. “We can put in some people who can make a difference, and that’s going to bode well through Big Ten play because not everyone’s going to have their A-game.”
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.
