Iowa City Today

The University of Iowa women's volleyball team was defeated by Northwestern in a five-set match on Friday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois. The Hawkeyes attempted a reverse sweep after dropping the first two sets but ultimately lost with set scores of 25-22, 25-19, 23-25, 18-25, and 15-10. This result moves Iowa to a season record of 12 wins and 11 losses overall, and 3-8 in Big Ten Conference play.

Iowa showed strength at the net throughout the match, out-hitting Northwestern with a .346 hitting percentage compared to the Wildcats' .297. The Hawkeyes recorded 70 kills against Northwestern's 62 and led in blocks with ten to Northwestern’s two. However, service errors were an issue for Iowa; they had four aces but committed fourteen errors from the service line. In contrast, Northwestern served twelve aces with seven errors.

Junior Hannah Whittingstall contributed significantly for Iowa with fourteen kills on twenty-one attempts and only one error, leading the team with a .619 hitting percentage. Sophomore Aleksandra Stojanovic added twelve kills while hitting .400 and led all players with seven blocks.

Senior Claire Ammeraal achieved her seventh double-double of the season by recording fifty-two assists and eleven digs along with three kills. Redshirt sophomore Alyssa Worden also notched her third double-double this year, finishing with thirteen kills and ten digs while hitting .360.

Graduate student Chard’e Vanzandt led all Hawkeye hitters with seventeen kills. Freshman Carmel Vares added eleven kills and five blocks during the contest.

Following this loss, Iowa finished its participation in the Big Ten Discover Volleyball Challenge matches with one win and four losses.

Iowa will next travel to Champaign to face Illinois on Sunday afternoon at Huff Hall. The match is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start time and will be available via streaming on B1G+ as well as through the Hawkeye Radio Network.