CORALVILLE — Iowa Hawkeye volleyball left little doubt Sunday afternoon, overwhelming Central Arkansas in straight sets to capture the Kwik Star Klassic championship and extend its winning streak to four matches.
The Hawkeyes rolled 25-12, 25-15, 25-14 at Xtream Arena on September 20, improving to 10-3 and matching their start from last season. The sweep was Iowa’s fifth of the year, while the four-match winning streak is its longest this season.
Iowa finished the tournament 3-0 after outlasting West Florida in five sets Friday and taking down Texas Tech in four sets Saturday.
Balanced attack, relentless defense power Hawkeyes
Hallie Steponaitis, Ksenija Tomic and Hannah Whittingstall shared the team lead with nine kills apiece. Whittingstall needed just 13 swings and committed no attacking errors, while Liv Mogridge added seven kills from the middle.
Setter Jenna Meitzler distributed 33 assists as Iowa hit .330 for the match.
The Hawkeyes were equally effective defensively, holding Central Arkansas to a .059 hitting percentage and piling up 11 blocks. Whittingstall led the way with five blocks.
Libero Henlee Moszkowicz collected 19 digs, three service aces and two assists. Allison Berent and Jaimie Marquardt contributed eight digs each.
“Each match, each set we are getting better. That’s what we wanted to see,” Iowa coach Jim Barnes said.
Barnes singled out Berent as Iowa’s player of the game and praised the team’s concentration with Big Ten play approaching.
“We could have sleepwalked through it, but that doesn’t get us ready for the Big Ten. We played this match with great focus,” he said.
Iowa takes command early
Mogridge and Whittingstall established Iowa’s attack immediately, combining for six kills as the Hawkeyes built a 10-6 opening-set lead.
Aces from Marichka Hoshylyk and Steponaitis helped stretch the advantage to 12-6. Iowa continued pulling away, using consecutive Steponaitis kills and Central Arkansas errors to build a 21-9 cushion.
Nikolija Bulatovic served an ace to bring up set point, and Steponaitis finished the 25-12 victory with her fourth kill. Iowa hit .407 in the opening frame.
The Hawkeyes maintained control in the second set, jumping ahead 6-2 and extending their lead to 15-7. Steponaitis supplied five kills in the set as Iowa cruised to a 25-15 win and a 2-0 match advantage.
Central Arkansas briefly led 2-0 in the third before Iowa answered with a 7-1 run that included a productive serving stretch from Marquardt.
Emily Lavin and Makena Rumple made their season debuts during the final set. Rumple and Bulatovic helped protect the right side of the net with two blocks, and Bulatovic eventually finished the match with a second-contact kill.
The Sugar Bears managed six kills against 11 attacking errors in the third set, hitting -.143.
Meitzler earns MVP as Iowa collects tournament honors
Meitzler was named tournament MVP after finishing the weekend with 120 assists, 11 kills, 21 digs and 15 blocks. She directed an Iowa offense that hit .269 across its three victories.
Whittingstall earned the tournament’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player award. Her 18 blocks and 1.50 blocks per set led the Hawkeyes, who limited their tournament opponents to a combined .154 hitting percentage.
Steponaitis and Tomic also earned all-tournament recognition.
Steponaitis finished the weekend with 38 kills, 14 digs and five blocks, sharing or holding Iowa’s kill lead in all three matches. Tomic hit .347 with 23 kills and only six attacking errors.
West Florida finished second in the tournament at 2-1, followed by Texas Tech at 1-2 and Central Arkansas at 0-3.
Milwaukee visits Tuesday
Iowa hosts Milwaukee at 6 p.m. Tuesday, September 22, for its final nonconference match before Big Ten play.
The Hawkeyes will be looking for their fifth consecutive victory as they continue a winning stretch that began with last week’s sweep of Drake.