CORALVILLE — Iowa Hawkeye volleyball dug deep Friday afternoon, shaking off a fourth-set stumble and taking command of the deciding frame to beat West Florida behind a career-high 14 kills from Hallie Steponaitis.
The Hawkeyes won their first five-set match of the season, 20-25, 25-16, 25-19, 18-25, 15-10, on September 18 at the Kwik Star Klassic, improving to 8-3.
Coming off a sweep of Drake powered by a season-best attack, Iowa leaned on its defense this time, piling up a season-high 88 digs and 13 blocks.
Steponaitis leads the attack, defense digs in
Steponaitis led Iowa in kills for the second consecutive match and matched her career high with 10 digs, earning her first double-double of the season. Liv Mogridge added 13 kills, while Rosa Vesty finished with nine.
Setter Jenna Meitzler contributed 40 assists and 14 digs for her fourth double-double of the season, along with five blocks and four kills.
First-year Hawkeye Henlee Moszkowicz collected a career-high 22 digs, becoming Iowa’s first player to reach 20 digs in a match this season. Jaimie Marquardt added 13, Allison Berent had 12 and Marichka Hoshylyk finished with 11, giving Iowa six players in double figures.
Hannah Whittingstall paced the blocking effort with seven. Iowa hit .192 while holding West Florida to .133, including a negative hitting percentage in the second set and a .000 mark in the fifth.
Hawkeyes take over when it matters most
West Florida controlled much of the opening set, building a 19-14 lead and withstanding a late Iowa push to win 25-20.
The Hawkeyes answered in the second. With the score tied 10-10, Carmel Vares provided a spark off the bench with consecutive kills to launch a 5-0 run. Iowa’s defense took over from there, producing 24 digs and four blocks while holding the Argonauts to seven kills and a -.023 hitting percentage.
Iowa opened the third set with six straight points and never trailed. Steponaitis delivered consecutive kills late, Whittingstall served an ace and Mogridge finished the 25-19 victory with a solo block.
But West Florida refused to fold. A 5-0 run helped the Argonauts build a 15-9 fourth-set lead, and they held off Iowa’s comeback bid to force a deciding set.
The fifth stayed tight until Iowa broke free from an 8-8 tie. Steponaitis put down her 14th kill, West Florida committed an error and Mogridge hammered consecutive kills to give the Hawkeyes a 12-8 advantage.
Hoshylyk supplied the match-winning kill to finish the 15-10 clincher.
Barnes praises fifth-set response
“Our opponent is so well coached. They’re used to winning and put us in some pressure situations,” Iowa coach Jim Barnes said. “We faltered in set four where we should have finished off the match. I am proud of the fifth set effort.”
Barnes said the final frame showed progress in an area his team has been working to improve.
“We’ve been asking our players to battle mentally without pressing too hard. We finally did it in that set and took over,” he said.
Barnes also singled out Berent’s back-row contribution, crediting her with steadying the Hawkeyes and calling her Iowa’s player of the game.
The victory came in Iowa’s first meeting with West Florida and moved the Hawkeyes to 2-2 this season in matches in which they dropped the opening set.
Iowa continues the Kwik Star Klassic against Texas Tech at noon Saturday, September 19.