Iowa City Today

Iowa Hawkeyes women's volleyball will begin its 2025 season at the Rebel Challenge in Las Vegas, facing UNLV, Utah Tech, and Cal State Bakersfield. The matches are scheduled for August 29-31 at Cox Pavilion, with Iowa playing UNLV on Friday at 8:30 p.m. (CT), Utah Tech on Saturday at 6:00 p.m., and CSUB on Sunday at 4:00 p.m.

This marks the first time Iowa will compete against these three programs in its history. The team returns eight letterwinners, including setters Claire Ammeraal and Jenna Meitzler, who combined for over a thousand assists last season. Junior Hannah Whittingstall leads the middle after recording 214 kills as a sophomore. Nine newcomers join the roster this year—five freshmen and four transfers, including seniors Milana Moisio and Chard’e Vanzandt.

Three of Iowa’s matches during the season will be televised on the Big Ten Network: at Washington (Oct. 4), versus Rutgers (Oct. 26), and versus Penn State (Nov. 29). Iowa is also set to host USC (Oct. 17) and UCLA (Oct. 19) at Carver-Hawkeye Arena for the first time since 2021 due to scheduling conflicts at Xtream Arena.

Fans can follow Iowa’s opening match against UNLV on the Mountain West Network; games against Utah Tech and CSU Bakersfield will stream via the UNLV Athletics YouTube channel. All matches are available through the Hawkeye Radio Network on YouTube with John Evans providing commentary.

UNLV finished last season with a record of 15-14, including wins over Iowa State and Northwestern, and is projected to finish tied for sixth in the Mountain West Conference this year. "Basia Latos was the Rebels' leader in kills per set (2.56), had the third-most kills (228) and returns as a member of the league's preseason team," according to team information provided by Iowa Athletics.

Utah Tech ended its previous campaign with a record of 15-12 overall and returns several statistical leaders from last year’s squad under head coach Camilla Hafoka.

CSU Bakersfield posted a record of 12-18 last season in Big West play and has added ten newcomers as part of its roster rebuild for this year under co-interim head coaches Felipe Nogueria and Cinthia Angus.

Iowa’s return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena marks its first home appearance there since fall 2021; previously, all home games had been played at Xtream Arena since spring that year.

The Big Ten remains competitive nationally with seven teams ranked in the AVCA Top 25 preseason poll—Nebraska is No.1, followed by Penn State at No.2 after their national title win last year.

Among Iowa’s incoming transfers is libero Allison Berent from Alabama, who was recognized as an Under Armour All-American and five-star recruit by VBallRecruiter.com during her prep career. Milana Moisio joins from Miami (FL) bringing NCAA Tournament experience, while Greta Schlichter arrives from Syracuse where she started most matches over two seasons. Chard’e Vanzandt comes from Chattanooga after earning first-team all-conference honors last season.

Following their opening weekend tournament in Las Vegas, Iowa will host Butler, Illinois State, and Loyola during the Kwik Star Klassic at Xtream Arena from September 4-6.

"Iowa will be meeting UNLV, Utah Tech and CSU Bakersfield for the first time in program history at the Rebel Challenge during opening weekend."