COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Iowa Hawkeye volleyball battled through a wild five-set Big Ten match Thursday night but could not finish off Maryland, falling 20-25, 25-13, 22-25, 25-19, 10-15 inside Schanwald Pavilion.
The loss dropped Iowa to 12-5 overall and 1-2 in Big Ten play.
The match featured a staggering 48 ties and 21 lead changes, with Iowa repeatedly fighting its way back before Maryland finally pulled away in the fifth set.
NorthIowaToday.com recently reported on Iowa earning its first Big Ten volleyball victory with a win over Rutgers:
https://northiowatoday.com/2026/09/26/iowa-hawkeye-volleyball-slams-door-on-rutgers-for-first-big-ten-win/
Vesty explodes for career-high 19 kills
Rosa Vesty led the Hawkeyes offensively with a career-high 19 kills on 38 swings.
Liv Mogridge added 13 kills while hitting .542, and Hannah Whittingstall finished with 10 kills to give Iowa three players in double figures.
Whittingstall also tied her career high with four service aces.
Setter Jenna Meitzler recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 44 assists and 11 digs.
Libero Henlee Moszkowicz added 10 digs, while Iowa held an 8-6 advantage in blocks. Mogridge led the Hawkeyes with five.
Maryland grabs first set after back-and-forth battle
Hallie Steponaitis gave Iowa an early boost with consecutive kills before the opening set settled into a tight back-and-forth fight.
There were 16 ties and eight lead changes in the first set alone.
Whittingstall tied the score at 10-10 with a block and followed with a service ace to give Iowa a 12-10 lead.
Vesty later put Iowa ahead 15-14, but Maryland answered with a 4-0 run and eventually took the set, 25-20.
Iowa steamrolls Terps in second set
The Hawkeyes responded in dominant fashion.
Mogridge opened the second set with a block before Vesty helped spark an 8-0 Iowa run.
Whittingstall delivered back-to-back kills, Meitzler added one of her own and Iowa began pulling away.
The Hawkeyes eventually opened a double-digit advantage at 23-13 before Jaimie Marquardt ended the set with a service ace.
Iowa won 25-13 while hitting an eye-popping .560 with 15 kills and only one error.
Third set slips away late
Whittingstall helped Iowa take an early 4-2 advantage in the third set, but neither team could create much separation.
The frame produced 17 ties and six lead changes.
The teams were even at 18-18 before Maryland reached 20 first. Meitzler tied things again at 21-21 with a second-contact kill, but the Terrapins closed the set on a 3-0 run for a 25-22 victory.
Hawkeyes force decisive fifth set
Vesty came out swinging in the fourth set and helped Iowa grab a 5-3 lead.
After Maryland tied the score, Carmel Vares delivered a kill that helped ignite a 5-0 Iowa run.
Vesty then recorded her 17th kill of the match, breaking her previous career high.
Mogridge kept Iowa in control through the middle of the set, and the Hawkeyes stretched the margin to 21-16 on a Meitzler-Mogridge block.
Iowa closed out the fourth, 25-19, to force a winner-take-all fifth set.
Maryland takes control in the fifth
Vares gave Iowa the first point of the deciding set, but Maryland quickly moved ahead 3-1.
Vesty tied it at 3-3 with her 19th kill, but the Terrapins seized control from there.
Maryland stretched the lead to 10-6 before Iowa called timeout.
Mogridge and Vesty combined on a block that trimmed the deficit to 13-9, but Maryland finished the match with a 15-10 fifth-set victory.
Iowa heads to No. 16 Penn State
The Hawkeyes now face another difficult Big Ten road assignment.
Iowa will travel to No. 16 Penn State on Saturday for a 6 p.m. match inside Rec Hall.
The Hawkeyes previously had a five-match winning streak snapped by Ohio State before bouncing back against Rutgers:
https://northiowatoday.com/2026/09/25/iowa-hawkeye-volleyball-lets-leads-slip-as-ohio-state-snaps-five-match-winning-streak/