IOWA CITY — Iowa volleyball has built its best nonconference start in years. Now comes the test that has repeatedly troubled the Hawkeyes under head coach Jim Barnes: Big Ten play.
Iowa's Rosa Vesty celebrates after a successful attack during an NCAA volleyball match against Drake at Xtream Arena in Coralville on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
The Hawkeyes round out nonconference play against Milwaukee on Tuesday. Then, Big Ten action begins this weekend with Ohio State (7-3) and Rutgers (9-3) headed to Iowa City.
Iowa has reached 10 nonconference wins for the first time since 2017, though the program's victories from that season were later vacated. Barnes said the Hawkeyes know what they need to do to carry that success into Big Ten play, where they are 14-66 over his first four seasons.
“Coming in sharp and starting fast,” Barnes told the Quad-City Times. “We picked up some things on what we need to do that. Figured out some rotations to help us do that and so (we’re) going to rehearse that against Milwaukee. The things we learned to start fast, get on opponents, not have lapses of three- or four-point runs to give them hope.”
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It’s what worked in a 3-0 sweep of Iowa State two weeks ago and it’s what Barnes believes will lead to more success in conference play.
“That’s what we did against Iowa State, and we kept them out of it,” Barnes said. “That’s the blueprint to beating these better teams, just playing team volleyball where everybody is really keeping each other locked in. This team has a lot more in them. We’ll see if we can bring it out of them.”
Barnes also isn’t putting much stock in the preseason rankings for either of its opponents this week even though the Buckeyes and Scarlet Knights were picked to finish just behind the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten preseason poll.
“They are both trending up too,” Barnes said. “A lot of teams in the bottom quarter are all starting to really win games and starting to show progress. Everybody’s getting ready for Big Ten. I’m sure it’ll be a battle. It doesn’t matter what they were picked in there. That preseason ranking is going to get all messed up because a lot of people are upsetting one another.”
He also hopes the weekend can be the start of Iowa establishing a real home-court advantage in Xtream Arena akin to what the team feels in other Big Ten venues.
“At home, it’s almost you could think of it as more pressure because we need to hold court,” Barnes said. “I know our team will be ready for it. I’m hoping the Hawk fans will be there to help us create a home-court advantage.”
Iowa hosts Milwaukee at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Ohio State at 6 p.m. Friday and Rutgers at 6 p.m. Saturday. All three matches will stream on Big Ten+ and air on 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.
