Iowa City Today

The Iowa Hawkeyes women's volleyball team is preparing for two home matches at Xtream Arena this week. On Thursday, Iowa will face Northwestern in a rematch, with the match scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Central Time. Sunday will bring Minnesota to Iowa City for their only regular season meeting in 2025, beginning at 2 p.m.

Both matches will be available via streaming on B1G+. Fans can also listen to live broadcasts on the Hawkeye Radio Network through YouTube, where John Evans provides commentary. Real-time statistics and updates are accessible on the team's official website and social media platforms.

Several individual performances have marked Iowa's season so far. Claire Ammeraal added two more double-doubles last weekend, bringing her total to nine this year and tying her for third place in the Big Ten. Teammates Carmel Vares, Alyssa Worden, and Hannah Whittingstall have each recorded over ten kills in six consecutive matches. Libero Milana Moisio leads the conference with 371 digs, while Whittingstall is tied for second in blocks with 117; as a team, Iowa ranks third in blocks (236.5). Ammeraal is also third in assists within the conference with 961.

Iowa has played an NCAA-high eleven five-set matches this season and recently secured its first win at Illinois since 2005 after a five-set contest. Hannah Whittingstall was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on October 27 following wins over Michigan State and Rutgers. Senior setter Ammeraal reached a career milestone of 3,000 assists against No. 25 USC on October 17.

Northwestern comes into Thursday's match with a record of 15-11 overall and a Big Ten mark of 5-9, including victories over several teams such as Maryland and Michigan. The Wildcats lead the conference in total digs (1,345), anchored by Ayah Elnady (223) and Drew Wright (207). Offensively, Elnady (274 kills) and Rylan Reid (268 kills) are top contributors; setters Lauren Carter (582 assists) and Sienna Noordermeer (419 assists) run their offense using a two-setter system. At the net, Bella Simkus and Kayla Kauffman have combined for over 140 blocks this season.

Head coach Tim Nollan is now in his second year leading Northwestern with an overall record of 20-34 during his tenure.

In their previous meeting on October 31 in Evanston, Iowa lost to Northwestern after coming back from two sets down but ultimately falling short in the fifth set by a score of 15-10. The Hawkeyes out-hit Northwestern (.346 to .297), led in kills (70 to 62), and had more blocks (10 compared to Northwestern’s two). However, Northwestern had twelve service aces compared to four from Iowa.

Minnesota enters Sunday's game ranked No. 20 nationally with an overall record of 17-8 and even conference play at seven wins apiece. As a team they are second-best in service aces per set within the Big Ten; Georgia Lee leads them individually with twenty-seven aces this year. Julia Hansen leads Minnesota offensively—her three hundred fifty-four kills rank fifth-best among all players within their league—and she earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors earlier this season after notable performances at Cal Poly.

Stella Swenson runs Minnesota’s offense as setter; she has provided eight hundred sixty-one assists so far this year while earning Setter of the Week recognition herself earlier this fall after posting career highs against Cal Poly and Ball State games that saw Minnesota achieve hitting percentages above .500—a feat not accomplished since two thousand seventeen for them as a program.

Lourdes Myers leads Minnesota defensively with one hundred three blocks this season under head coach Keegan Cook who is now completing his third year guiding Minnesota’s volleyball program having led them into consecutive NCAA tournament appearances thus far.

Several Hawkeye players approach individual milestones: Claire Ammeraal needs one hundred eighty-four more assists for thirty-five hundred career assists; Jaimie Marquardt requires fourteen digs for her two-hundred fiftieth; Milana Moisio is nineteen away from six hundred career digs; Greta Schlichter needs twenty-three digs for five hundred total; Aleksandra Stojanovic is eighteen kills shy of one hundred fifty on the season; Chard'e Vanzandt needs twenty-two digs for three hundred career digs; Carmel Vares approaches three hundred seasonal kills needing forty-three more; Hannah Whittingstall is fifty-seven away from five hundred career kills; Alyssa Worden seeks twenty-three additional kills toward her second century mark alongside thirty-eight more digs needed toward reaching three-hundred overall.

Senior libero Milana Moisio has been central defensively according to coaching staff praise: "Her leadership and fit with Coach Barnes’ culture has propelled the team and elevated its defensive production." Moisio currently tops all Big Ten players by dig count after transferring from Miami (FL), where she appeared eighty-three times across three seasons before joining Iowa’s roster last fall—this year already setting new personal bests both statistically (twenty-six dig single-game high vs Michigan) as well as consistency across multiple contests featuring four or more games surpassing twenty-plus dig marks.

After these home contests conclude Sunday versus Minnesota—the Hawkeyes will travel next week for an away match against top-ranked Nebraska scheduled nationally televised coverage via FS1.