Iowa City Today

The University of Iowa women's volleyball team lost in straight sets to No. 23 UCLA on Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with 2,622 fans in attendance. The defeat brings Iowa's record to 10-10 overall and 1-7 in conference play.

Redshirt freshman Hallie Steponaitis and graduate student Chard’e Vanzandt led Iowa with eight kills each, with Steponaitis achieving a team-high hitting percentage of .357. Senior Claire Ammeraal contributed 24 assists, four kills, and four digs. Senior Milana Moisio led the defense with 11 digs and two assists.

Head coach Jim Barnes commented on the team's performance, saying, “They broke our serve receive, which is one of our strengths. We’ve had such a great trend of improvement over the last two weeks and it didn’t show today. We’re going to keep fighting. As a team, we’ve got to come out and start faster. When our team clicks at the same time, we can compete against everyone. We will regroup.”

In the first set, UCLA established control early with a 4-1 run that put them ahead 8-4. Despite efforts from Iowa to close the gap—highlighted by back-to-back kills from Ammeraal—the Bruins maintained their lead and took the set 25-14 after recording 17 kills on 30 swings without an error.

Iowa began the second set strongly with a 4-0 run that included two UCLA errors, a kill by freshman Carmel Vares, and a solo block from Vanzandt. The Hawkeyes maintained their lead until UCLA tied the set at 13-13 following consecutive Iowa hitting errors. Although Iowa rallied briefly after a timeout and saved three set points late in the frame, UCLA secured the second set 25-23.

UCLA opened the third set with another quick run and extended their advantage throughout, ultimately winning 25-9 while hitting .522 for the set.

Iowa will look to recover when they host Michigan State on Friday, Oct. 24 at Xtream Arena in Coralville. The match is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on B1G+ as well as the Hawkeye Radio Network.