AMES — Iowa volleyball’s coaches flipped the script on their players. Instead of being greeted with a water shower or Gatorade bath, the coaches surprised their players with a water shower in the locker room after sweeping Iowa State on Tuesday.
“It’s just a blast,” Barnes said. “These girls work so hard, and we’re still learning one another. There’s a lot of new pieces, and I just asked them tonight, let’s just be united. Let’s have a united effort. Just have each other’s back. When the pressure comes, that’s whenever you’re going to really need to be united. Great atmosphere in here, and we stuck together.”
The 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-23) win marked the Hawkeyes’ (4-2, 0-0 Big Ten) first victory in the in-state rivalry since 2021. It was Barnes’ first as head coach.
It was Iowa head coach Jim Barnes’ first win over Iowa State since taking over at Iowa in 2022.
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“It’s so awesome,” freshman libero Henlee Moszkowicz said. “The team, all together, we came together when we needed to. We didn’t have a great weekend last weekend, and we didn’t let that get to us. We came and we showed out, and we played amazing today. It’s all coach’s motivational pregame talk for sure.”
Iowa held the RV Cyclones (4-2, 0-0 Big 12) to a .230 hitting percentage and forced 18 attack errors in the win.
Barnes said he saw toughness, growth and an ability to control the game from his team after a pair of losses last weekend.
“Whenever we did make a mistake, we came right back and we sided out,” Barnes said. “That’s toughness, and that was growth. That didn’t let Iowa State get some momentum. Because in here, if you just give them a little bit of moment that crowd was into it, and so thank goodness we were really tough today to keep the crowd out of it.”
Second-year outside hitter Carmel Vares, who recorded nine kills in the match, highlighted the team’s on-court cohesion in the victory.
“We’ve talked about our team chemistry and the vibe on the court a lot,” Vares said. “Last weekend, it was bad. Coach told us in the locker room that this chemistry that we had on the court today was something else, and we can do big things with that chemistry.”
The Hawkeyes’ chemistry allowed them to weather an early surge from Iowa State in set one. The Cyclones jumped out to a 5-2 lead and remained in front until Iowa tied the game at 10-10.
Barnes won a critical challenge on a touch off a Liv Mogridge attack to take the lead 11-10.
“Every little point mattered,” Barnes said. “To keep our momentum because that team’s not going to give up. So, we kept telling our team that even though we have the leverage and we have the lead, you can’t let up for us. You can’t give them hope, and that’s what we did a great job of.”
Seven points later, Moszkowicz made a diving play to pancake a serve from Iowa’s State Nayeli Ti’a. The freshman got just enough of the ball to pop it to setter Jenna Meitzler who managed to set Mogridge for a decisive kill to send the Hawkeyes to the first media timeout with a 15-13 advantage.
“The ball goes your way when you’re hustling and you’re putting in extra effort and everybody’s doing their part,” Barnes said. “… I’m so proud of our team.”
Iowa did not trail for the remainder of the first set and kept its momentum rolling into the second, jumping out to a 4-0 lead and extending it to 9-3. Mogridge and Ksenija Tomic combined for seven kills in the second frame to power the Hawkeyes to the 25-21 win.
With momentum behind his team, one thought came to Barnes’ mind as he prepared for the third set.
“I was going, this one is not going to go five sets,” Barnes said.
In two of his previous four loss to the Cyclones, including last season, Iowa failed to capitalize on its momentum before falling in five sets.
“We need to keep it down and not let up a set,” Barnes said. “That was what’s so big about set three, to me. That was the best set for us because they had some momentum. They had the crowd behind them, but we didn’t let up and didn’t give them a set. That shows a lot of growth.”
Iowa State rallied in the third, reawakening a quiet Hilton Coliseum by getting out to a 10-7 lead.
Then, the Hawkeyes answered and scored eight of the next 11 points to take a 15-13 lead into the media timeout.
It was there chemistry that saved them in the third set.
“Our serving got more tough and got them out of system,” Barnes said. “We were able to dig and transition and put some balls away. Ksenija stepped up big on the left side, put some balls away for us. Carmel started putting some balls away. We weren’t just relying on our middles. Hallie (Steponaitis) had some big swings for us. When all that’s going at them, that how were able to overwhelm them — with team play.”
Iowa returns home on Thursday for its home opener against Southern Illinois at 6 p.m. in Xtream Arena in Coralville to open the Hawkeye Invitational. The Hawkeyes will also face Incarnate Word (6 p.m., Friday) and Missouri State (1 p.m., Saturday). All three matches will be available on Big Ten+ (subscription required).
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.
