Iowa City Today

Iowa’s women’s volleyball team is set to face two top-ranked Big Ten opponents on the road this week. The Hawkeyes will play No. 18 Indiana on Friday at Wilkinson Hall and No. 9 Purdue on Saturday at Holloway Gymnasium in West Lafayette.

Both matches will be available for streaming on B1G+, with radio coverage provided by the Hawkeye Radio Network via YouTube, featuring John Evans as commentator. Live statistics can be accessed through the volleyball schedule page at hawkeyesports.com, and updates will also be posted on Iowa Volleyball’s social media channels and website.

This season, Iowa achieved a notable milestone with a 3-2 victory at Illinois, marking its first win in Champaign since 2005. Alyssa Worden contributed her fourth consecutive double-double during that match. Junior middle hitter Hannah Whittingstall was recognized as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on October 27 after leading Iowa in blocks and recording a double-double against Michigan State and Rutgers.

Several individual performances have stood out for Iowa: Libero Milana Moisio leads the conference with 330 digs; setter Claire Ammeraal is second in assists with 878 and has seven double-doubles, tied for sixth-most in the league; Ammeraal is also the only setter in the Big Ten with over 100 kills (131). As a team, Iowa ranks third in blocks with 218.5.

Senior Claire Ammeraal reached her 3,000th career assist against No. 25 USC on October 17, while graduate Chard'e Vanzandt recorded her 1,000th career kill during a sweep over Maryland on September 25.

Indiana enters Friday's match with an overall record of 18-4 and a conference mark of 9-3. The Hoosiers have secured ranked road wins over teams such as USC, Penn State, and UCLA this season. They recently swept Penn State for the first time ever in State College. Freshman Teodora Kričković was named Big Ten Setter of the Week after averaging more than twelve assists per set at the Indiana Invitational and currently ranks among national leaders in assists per set.

Purdue stands second in the Big Ten with a record of 19-3 overall and 10-2 within conference play. The Boilermakers have earned victories against several ranked opponents including SMU, Kansas, USC, Minnesota, Indiana, and UCLA. Kenna Wollard is second in kills within the conference; Ryan McAleer is third in digs; Taylor Anderson leads all setters in assists per set. Head coach Dave Shondell holds a program-best coaching record at Purdue and has led his team to nineteen NCAA tournament appearances.

Several Hawkeye players are approaching personal milestones: Claire Ammeraal is nearing both her career totals for assists (267 away from reaching 3,500) and digs (five away from reaching nine hundred); Jaimie Marquardt needs one ace to reach thirty for her career; Milana Moisio is sixty digs away from six hundred; Greta Schlichter requires thirty-one more digs to reach five hundred; Hallie Steponaitis needs nineteen kills to hit one hundred this season; Chard'e Vanzandt is twenty-eight kills short of three hundred as a Hawkeye; Carmel Vares needs fourteen more kills for two hundred fifty this season; Hannah Whittingstall is fifteen kills away from four hundred as a Hawkeye and one block from two hundred fifty career blocks; Alyssa Worden needs forty-six more kills to reach two hundred for her career.

Alyssa Worden has recorded double-doubles throughout late October into early November after returning to Iowa’s starting lineup against Michigan State on October 24. Her recent performances include setting personal bests in both kills and digs during this stretch.

Hannah Whittingstall received recognition as Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week following strong performances including fourteen kills without errors versus Rutgers—marking Iowa’s first defensive player award since Bethany Yeager earned it in 2013.

The Hawkeyes return home next Thursday to host Northwestern at Xtream Arena beginning at six p.m., with coverage available via B1G+ streaming service and Hawkeye Radio Network.