Iowa City Today

The Iowa Hawkeyes women's volleyball team will travel to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for the SEMO Invitational from September 11-13. The Hawkeyes are scheduled to play Southeast Missouri State (SEMO) on Thursday at 6:00 p.m., Murray State on Friday at 3:00 p.m., and Weber State on Saturday at noon.

Iowa has started its season with a 6-0 record, the best since 2009. If the team wins against SEMO, it will mark the best start in school history. The Hawkeyes recently swept matches against Butler, Illinois State, and Loyola Chicago at the Kwik Star Klassic.

Setter Claire Ammeraal has been named tournament MVP at both the Rebel Challenge and Kwik Star Klassic. She leads the team in assists with 174 and has also contributed 56 digs, 36 kills, and 13 blocks so far this season. Ammeraal recorded her second career triple-double against Utah Tech with 41 assists, 18 digs, and 11 kills.

Libero Milana Moisio was named defensive MVP at the Kwik Star Klassic after posting 38 kills, an average of 4.2 digs per set, and 13 assists. Middle hitters Hannah Whittingstall and Aleksandra Stojanovic were selected for the all-tournament team.

The Hawkeyes won the Rebel Challenge in Las Vegas by sweeping UNLV and Cal State Bakersfield and outlasting Utah Tech in a five-set match.

For those wanting to follow along, Iowa's match against SEMO will be streamed on ESPN+. Matches against Murray State and Weber State will not have a video stream but can be heard on the Hawkeye Radio Network (YouTube) with John Evans calling play-by-play. Live stats are available on hawkeyesports.com.

SEMO enters its home tournament with a record of 3-3 this season. The Redhawks were picked to finish first in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll after winning their eleventh regular-season title last year with a conference record of 15-3. Katy St. John was named OVC Freshman of the Week after recording back-to-back career-highs in kills. Lucy Arndt returns as a two-time all-OVC first-team player with strong performances early this season. Nina Schuberth is coming off an OVC Defensive Player of the Year award after leading the conference in digs last year. Head coach Julie Yankus is entering her fifteenth season with SEMO.

Murray State opened its season at 2-4 following a .500 record last year. Ella Vogel was named to the Preseason all-MVC Team after surpassing 1,000 career kills during opening weekend play this fall. Katie Titus leads their offense with over one hundred assists through six matches while Hallie Forester anchors their defense with more than sixty digs so far this season. David Schwepker continues as head coach into his twenty-seventh year.

Weber State holds a record of 5-1 to start its campaign and was picked first in Big Sky Conference preseason voting after finishing third last year in league play. Rose Moore earned offensive player honors early this fall while Ashley Gneiting was recognized as a preseason all-conference selection following her junior-year numbers. Morgan Pratt leads their offense as setter; Jeremiah Larsen enters his eleventh year as head coach.

Iowa's international student-athletes have contributed significantly: freshman Carmel Vares leads Iowa’s offense in kills; sophomore Aleksandra Stojanovic has high hitting percentages; freshman Marichka Hoshylyk added three kills against Butler; Greta Schlichter provided defensive support across five matches.

Offensively, pins Chard'e Vanzandt, Carmel Vares, and Alyssa Worden have each led matches for Iowa early this season—each averaging over two kills per set—and combined for nearly thirty blocks so far.

Looking ahead, Iowa will host Iowa State for the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series on September 17 before hosting East Texas A&M (September 19) and Lindenwood (September 21) during the Hawkeye Invitational.