WEST POINT, N.Y. — The Iowa volleyball team opened its 2026 season in commanding fashion Friday night, sweeping Army West Point in straight sets at Christl Arena.
The Hawkeyes never trailed in the match, defeating the Black Knights 25-23, 25-15 and 25-17 behind a dominant performance from their middle hitters.
Iowa’s middles accounted for 20 of the team’s 38 kills.
Newcomer Liv Mogridge made an immediate impact in her Hawkeye debut, pounding down 12 kills while hitting .579.
Fourth-year middle Hannah Whittingstall was even more efficient, recording eight kills on 13 swings without an attack error for a .615 hitting percentage.
Hallie Steponaitis supplied additional firepower from the outside, finishing with nine kills while hitting .571.
As a team, Iowa hit .346 with 38 kills and only 10 errors.
Setter Jenna Meitzler distributed all 33 of Iowa’s assists.
The Hawkeye defense was equally impressive, holding Army to a microscopic .009 hitting percentage and winning the blocking battle, 7-2.
Jaimie Marquardt made her first career start at libero and responded with a career-high 14 digs. Marichka Hoshylyk added nine digs and Ksenija Tomic finished with eight.
Iowa jumped ahead 4-0 in the opening set behind a Whittingstall kill and consecutive blocks involving Mogridge and Whittingstall.
Army battled back and eventually tied the frame at 23-23, but an Army error and a Rosa Vesty kill allowed Iowa to escape with the 25-23 victory.
The Hawkeyes took control much earlier in the second set.
Meitzler helped spark a 5-1 run, and Iowa eventually stretched its advantage to 16-5. The Hawkeyes hit .450 in the frame while holding Army to .031 on the way to a 25-15 win.
Iowa again jumped ahead quickly in the third set.
Army managed to tie the score at 5-5, but Mogridge answered with her 10th kill of the night before Tomic helped force an Army timeout with Iowa leading 9-5.
The Black Knights made one final push and cut Iowa’s advantage to 20-17.
Tomic responded with a solo block that ignited a five-point Hawkeye run to close out the match, 25-17.
Iowa hit .379 in the final set while Army finished at -.028.
The victory gave head coach Jim Barnes the 499th win of his head coaching career, putting him one victory away from the 500-win milestone.
Iowa is now 5-0 in season openers under Barnes.
The Hawkeyes also improved their all-time record against Army to 2-1.
Mogridge, Henlee Moszkowicz and Tomic each made their Iowa debuts in the victory.
Iowa will return to the court Saturday for its first-ever meeting with UAlbany at the Black Knight Invitational.
First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. Central time at Christl Arena.