CORALVILLE — Iowa Hawkeye volleyball grabbed the opening set Saturday but couldn’t finish off Missouri State, falling in four sets in the Hawkeye Invitational finale at Xtream Arena.
The Bears defeated Iowa 22-25, 25-19, 25-21 and 26-24, dropping the Hawkeyes to 6-3 on the season and leaving Iowa in second place at its home tournament.
The loss halted a strong run for Iowa, which had entered Saturday after rallying past Incarnate Word in four sets Friday and beating Southern Illinois in four sets to open the tournament.
Ksenija Tomic turned in another big performance for the Hawkeyes, pounding 15 kills on 28 attacks for a .464 hitting percentage while adding 10 digs for a double-double.
Liv Mogridge also reached double figures with 12 kills.
Setter Jenna Meitzler handed out 42 assists and chipped in five kills, while libero Henlee Moszkowicz paced Iowa with 15 digs.
Peyton Young led the Hawkeyes at the net with three blocks.
Iowa finished with 61 kills and hit .253 as a team, but Missouri State held advantages in both blocks and digs. The Bears recorded nine blocks compared with Iowa’s eight and finished with 53 digs to the Hawkeyes’ 50.
Iowa actually held advantages in kills and assists, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Missouri State’s defensive work.
The Hawkeyes came out strong in the opening set.
Iowa reached 10 points first and built a three-point lead behind swings from Carmel Vares and Hannah Whittingstall.
Missouri State pulled within 13-12, but Tomic sparked a 4-0 Iowa run. Whittingstall then delivered consecutive kills as the Hawkeyes stretched their advantage to 16-12.
The Bears made another push late and cut Iowa’s lead to 22-21.
Tomic answered immediately out of an Iowa timeout with a kill. A Missouri State error brought up set point, and Tomic closed the frame with another kill for a 25-22 Iowa victory.
Missouri State responded in the second.
Back-to-back Mogridge kills briefly gave Iowa a 3-2 advantage, but the Bears answered with a 4-0 run and took control.
Tomic tried to keep the Hawkeyes close with a block, a tip kill and a service ace, but Missouri State steadily widened the gap before taking the set 25-19.
The third frame followed a similar pattern.
Missouri State raced ahead 7-2 before kills from Meitzler, Mogridge and Tomic helped Iowa fight back.
The Hawkeyes trimmed the deficit to 12-10, but the Bears rebuilt their advantage.
Whittingstall delivered a kill and service ace late to pull Iowa within three at 22-19, and the Hawkeyes survived two set points before a service error ended the frame, 25-21.
Iowa appeared ready to force a fifth set after exploding out of the gate in the fourth.
With Jaimie Marquardt moved to libero and Nikolija Bulatovic and Young inserted into the lineup, Iowa jumped ahead 4-0.
A Vares kill stretched the advantage to 7-1, forcing an early Missouri State timeout.
The Hawkeyes remained in control and eventually built a 12-6 lead.
Missouri State began chipping away.
A 4-0 Bears run cut the margin to 13-10, and after Iowa entered the break ahead 15-10, Missouri State ripped off five consecutive points to erase the advantage.
From there, the set became a fight.
Marichka Hoshylyk put Iowa back ahead 20-19 before Missouri State eventually reached match point.
Rosa Vesty answered with a kill to tie the set at 24-24, giving the Hawkeyes another chance to extend the match.
They couldn’t capitalize.
An Iowa error helped Missouri State regain control, and the Bears finished off the 26-24 victory to claim the match.
Tomic’s double-double highlighted another productive weekend for the Hawkeyes, while eight other Iowa players recorded at least one kill Saturday.
The Hawkeyes entered the tournament riding momentum from a historic three-set sweep of Iowa State in Ames that snapped a 32-year drought at Hilton Coliseum.
Iowa will remain at home for its next match, hosting Drake on Wednesday at 8 p.m. inside Xtream Arena.
The match will be televised live on Big Ten Network and carried on the Hawkeye Radio Network.