By Kyle Mann
It was an up-and-down weekend for the Iowa volleyball team hosting Maryland and Rutgers, but ended with the Hawkeyes claiming their first Big Ten victory of 2015.
When the Hawkeyes took the floor on Oct. 30 against Maryland, it seemed like the most winnable match that Iowa had seen in more than a month. With the Terrapins entering at only 1-9 in the conference, Iowa smelled an opportunity to move up in the standings.
And that’s how it seemed things would go. For one set.
Iowa used a 6-0 run early in the first set to go up, 7-2, controlling the set and extending the lead to 18-10. Iowa had a well-distributed attack with Jess Janota, Mikaela Gunderson, and Reagan Davey, and even won the blocks battle in set one, 3-2, en route to a 25-19 victory.
Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, that’s as good as things got. Plagued by sloppy play and being out-blocked, 4-0, Iowa dropped the second set, 25-20.
As has been often the case this season, Iowa had played well early and in spurts throughout the match but could never avoid a string of errors to halt a run.
“We’re all too focused on losing, and ‘what if we lose?’ ” Gunderson said. “We’re all afraid to lose, and it just ends up happening. Versus attacking first, and playing our game, and running our tempo.”
Iowa went on to drop the next two sets with Maryland, losing the match, 3-1. The Hawakeyes had enough, however, and maybe they realized that as good of an opportunity as Maryland was, Rutgers was an even better one.
Iowa came out on Halloween ready to play the crisp game they’d been searching for, hitting .275 in an opening set victory. Iowa played well, but with the score tied late in the set, a 6-2 run secured a 25-20 victory.
Annika Olsen had a career-high 26 digs against Rutgers, and said the aftermath of the Maryland loss helped create a cleaner, more resilient team on Oct. 31.
“Last night, we had this great talk about why we play the game, what we love about it,” Olsen said. “We just kept remembering that on the court, and it showed; we all played our minds out.”
After winning the opening set for the second consecutive match, they found themselves in a familiar position, trailing midway through Set 2. Down 11-10, the Hawkeyes rattled off a 4-point run to take a 14-11 lead and recapture momentum. This time, they held on to it. They extended their lead to six as they took set two, 25-19.
The Hawkeyes, often the victim of lengthy set-shifting runs, were on the opposite end of those runs on Oct. 31, and used a pair in the final set.
After a 4-point run first established distance in a 14-10 lead in set three, a 7-1 run late in the set clinched it.
Lauren Brobst led with 11 kills; the win now moves Iowa to 11-14 overall, 1-11 in the Big Ten.
The Hawkeyes will play next at Indiana on Wednesday, and they will try to maintain the form they’ve been searching for.
“It’s great for our group to get a W in the Big Ten, finally,” Shymansky said. “We knew we’d have to play clean volleyball and I thought we executed very well, we were pretty low-error tonight.”
Follow @KyleFMann for Iowa volleyball news, updates, and analysis.
