Iowa Hawkeyes2023 Record: 8-24
Conference Record: 0-20 (14th)
NCAA Tournament Placement: N/A
Final AVCA Ranking: NR
Head Coach: Jim Barnes (3rd season at Iowa)
Record at Iowa: 18-45
| Returning Starters | Departures
* - 2023 Starter
() - Transfer Destination | New Additions
() - Transfer Origin |
Anna Davis - R-SR - 6'1 MB
Gabby Deery - SO - 6'2 OH/RS
Michelle Urquhart - SR - 6'0 OH/DS | Audrey Black - 6'3 OH/RS
Caitlan Buettner* - 6'2 OH
Jacqlyn Caspers - 6'5 MB
Harlei Cole - JR - 5'7 DS/L [No longer on roster]
Amanda Darling - R-SR - 5'3 DS/L (Cal Baptist)
Sydney Dennis* - R-JR - 5'5 DS/L [No longer on roster]
Maddy Hanson - R-SO - 6'1 MB [No longer on roster]
Kaia Mateo* - SO - 5'11 S (Rice)
Delaney McSweeney* - 6'7 MB
Nataly Moravec* - R-SO - 6'3 OH/RS [No longer on roster]
Bailey Ortega* - SR+ - 5'9 S (LSU) | Claire Ammeraal - JR - 6'2 S (Central Michigan)
Joy Galles - SR+ - 5'6 DS/L (Arizona)
Malu Garcia - FR - 6'1 RS
Gracie Gibson - SR - 6'1 MB (Lafayette)
Jaimie Marquardt - FR - 5'7 DS/L
Jenna Meitzler - FR - 6'1 S
Dominique Phills - FR - 6'1 OH
Kenya Prescott - JR - 5'5 DS/L (Des Moines Area Community College) [NJCAA]
Hallie Steponaitis - FR - 6'1 OH
Aleksandra Stojanovic - FR - 6'3 MB
Hannah Whittingstall - SO - 6'2 MB (SMU) |
2022 marked the beginning of Head Coach Jim Barnes's tenure in Iowa City (or Coralville). Barnes was hired after leading Tulane for six seasons and Baylor for eleven. Iowa posted a 10-21 record in 2022 with four wins in conference play.
Year 2 got off to a promising start with Iowa defeating Cal Poly in Sacramento. That optimism was immediately shaken by a three-set loss to Sacramento State and a tiebreaker defeat to Nevada.
Iowa's home debut added three more wins to the tab. Sweeps over Middle Tennessee State and South Dakota State were accompanied by a five-set nailbiter against Kent State.
The Hawkeyes fell in a five-set Cy-Hawk match--a series that always seems to produce unpredictable results. Iowa won three of its next four to close out non-conference play.
The Big Ten gauntlet began in Xtream Arena as Iowa faced off against Minnesota. This contest turned out to be one of the wildest on the calendar as an error-filled marathon kept the Hawkeyes in touch with the Gophers. Minnesota eventually pulled away in the fifth, denying Iowa a significant upset win.
Iowa would not win its next set for nearly a month. The Hawkeyes were overmatched by some of the conference's top competitors, including Wisconsin, Purdue, and Penn State. This sweep streak was finally broken with a Set 1 win against Michigan State, but the Spartans prevailed in four anyway. A 30-28 third set was a missed opportunity, and the final stanza was also decided by two.
The Hawkeyes won a set at Maryland but were not competitive in the other three sets. This was the prelude to the highly anticipated matchup between Rutgers and Iowa, the bottom two teams in the conference standings.
Iowa was on the cusp of a home triumph and took a 2-1 lead over the Scarlet Knights. Of course, the prevailing trend of close calls continued as Rutgers won the next two to steal a home win. The Scarlet Knights picked up their second conference win while Iowa was pinned at the bottom with zero.
That was the last of Iowa's chances to taste victory. After the Oct. 27 heartbreaker against Rutgers, the Hawkeyes did not win another set in 2023. That equates to 29 consecutive set losses. A handful of deuce sets were mixed in, but Iowa failed to capitalize each time. Nebraska clinched the Big Ten title on Iowa's home floor. Two more road losses capped off an 0-20 effort for Iowa. The program had seen several one-win conference seasons, but this was the first winless campaign for the Hawkeyes as a Big Ten school (not counting vacated wins).
2023 Lineup:Drawing the line between starter and non-starter in the boxes above was a difficult task. This tends to happen with teams coming off tough seasons. We'll try to lay out the "typical" starters here while also addressing lineup evolutions and personnel changes.
Two Hawkeyes participated in every set last year, and both were returning starters from the 2022 squad. One was redshirt senior Delaney McSweeney, the six-foot-seven middle blocker who transferred from Wake Forest in Coach Barnes's inaugural season at Iowa. McSweeney occupied the M2 spot and was Iowa's most efficient attacker with a 0.282 average in 2023.
The other constant in Iowa's 2023 rotation was senior setter Bailey Ortega. The Hawkeyes had seen plenty from Ortega since she joined the program in 2020. By the time her fourth year was done, Ortega had eclipsed 2,000 assists in her career.
Iowa rarely played Ortega across the front row. The setter's five-foot-nine stature was a tough sell when blocking against Big Ten left-side hitters. This leads us to Iowa's dual identity: the 5-2 and the 6-2.
Both systems imply a second setter, and that was true freshman Kaia Mateo. When Iowa rolled with the 5-2, the first-year setter played across the front row. Mateo would obviously be across the dial from Ortega in the 6-2. Given Iowa's volatility at opposite, it's hard to make a blanket statement about which setter was paired with which opposite.
So, let's chip away at those opposites. Junior pin hitter Michelle Urquhart followed Barnes from Tulane to Iowa and accumulated the second-leading kill total for the 2022 Hawkeyes. Urquhart played primarily on the left side as a sophomore but saw a considerable role change in 2023. She got early reps at opposite but was eventually relegated to a backcourt and serving role. Injuries played a role in Urquhart's downturn, and she did not play in the season's last eight matches.
Iowa's limited depth at opposite initially made the 5-2 the more attractive option near the season's midpoint. When Urquhart was phased out of the frontcourt, the primary option became true freshman Gabby Deery. The Iowa native finished with 94 kills and appeared in just over half of Iowa's sets in 2023. Returning senior Audrey Black got occasional looks in the front row, too.
The Hawkeyes flipped a switch as November approached and favored the 6-2 to close out the season. Deery was still one of the opposites. The other right-side hitter in the lineup was Anna Davis, but she can perhaps only be described as an opposite based on her spot in the rotation. For almost the entire season, Davis was Iowa's M1 and the team's most effective slide attacker. That didn't change in the 6-2, and Iowa effectively ran a two-setter offense with three middle blockers.
The third middle blocker to become a late-season starter was true freshman Rosa Vesty, who was actually listed as an outside hitter on the official roster. The New Zealand native chipped in with about a block per set and shifted between the middle and the right depending on the rotation.
Iowa's left-side hitters were not nearly as complicated. The team's new leader was fifth-year senior Caitlan Buettner, who joined the Iowa program after three triple-digit-kill seasons at Texas State. Buettner was Iowa's top choice to fit the L2 mold and led the team with 327 kills.
Despite some early stints at opposite, BYU transfer Nataly Moravec settled in as the other outside hitter. Like Buettner, Moravec played frequently across the back row and piled up a wealth of service receptions. Unsurprisingly, Buettner and Moravec finished 1-2 in kills and attempts.
Iowa didn't platoon many defensive specialists in 2023, but a few different backcourt players saw action. This means the libero position changed hands more than once.
Returning redshirt sophomore Sydney Dennis was the biggest contributor in the contrasting jersey. She saw the floor as a DS in 2022 and took the leading role the following year. Dennis was generally the Hawkeye libero through the end of October but missed all of November. Her 4.15 digs per set ranked sixth in the Big Ten.
In Dennis's stead, Iowa tried trotting out sophomore Harlei Cole and soon flipped to Niagara transfer Amanda Darling. Darling had made some early-season starts at libero but was mostly absent through the first half of conference play.
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2024 Projected Lineup:Scrap everything.
Almost everyone is gone from last year's team. That means almost everyone is new. Despite this, we can make some decent conjectures about what Iowa will look like next year.
At least Davis returns at the middle blocker spot. Slot her into the M1 position as Iowa presumably presses forward in a 5-1 system.
That 5-1 will be led by Central Michigan transfer Claire Ammeraal at setter. The six-foot-two junior is an aggressive lefty who recorded two triple-doubles with the Chippewas last year. Ammeraal's ability to remain a second-ball attacking force will be crucial to Iowa's success, and the setter could go well north of a kill per set this season.
A one-setter offense also leaves us with one opposite to figure out this year. What happens with Urquhart? The left-side hitter turned opposite could return to the frontcourt if she's physically capable. Of course, that could be back on the outside with depth concerns there. Deery also returns and could build on her momentum at opposite from the end of 2023. Otherwise, we're looking at a potential freshman contributor with southpaw attacker Malu Garcia joining the roster.
The left pin is a major area of concern for Iowa in 2024. Buettner exhausted her eligibility, and Moravec is somewhere that's not on the team. We'll keep an eye on Urquhart, but there are still depth concerns even if she's healthy.
Redshirt freshman Alyssa Worden will compete for a spot after a summer ACL injury halted her debut season. She was a highly touted prospect before the setback. Vesty has earned preseason reps on the outside despite last year's stint at middle blocker. Late additions to this position group include freshmen Dominique Phills and Hallie Steponaitis. No matter what the left-side personnel looks like, the position group could struggle to score against Big Ten foes. Matching last year's production seems unlikely.
The M2 spot across from Davis could go through SMU transfer Hannah Whittingstall. The sophomore appeared in 15 matches with the Mustangs but saw her playing time wane by the end of the year. Another transfer, Gracie Gibson, enters the middle blocker picture from Lafayette College. Iowa looked to the international route during the offseason and brought in Serbian standout Aleksandra Stojanovic.
The libero spot belongs to Arizona graduate transfer Joy Galles. She started a healthy amount last year as Arizona's leading libero. We'll see how much Iowa dips into its DS reserves after not doing much of it last year. JUCO transfer Kenya Prescott adds depth along with underclassmen Olivia Lombardi and Jaimie Marquardt.
2024 Schedule:Iowa only has one Power 4 opponent on 2024's non-conference slate, and that's probably a reflection of where the team is. Don't go full-speed ahead with an entirely new team.
The Hawkeyes are starting the season in Puerto Rico with matches against Liberty and Providence. It seems like a random group of teams to bring to the island, but go ahead. Liberty will offer resistance, but you'd hope Providence gives Iowa a win. Hopefully.
San Jose State, Delaware, and Cal Baptist travel to Coralville in Iowa's home-opening weekend. These are three winnable matches. Delaware is a defending conference champion but has much to replace.
We're bringing the Cy-Hawk Series to Ames this year. Iowa will be a heavy underdog, but this match is always weird.
The Horizon League's Milwaukee Panthers host Iowa, St. Thomas, and Illinois State. This will be an interesting barometer week for the Hawkeyes.
South Dakota and Drake are two more regional foes that will help us gauge where Iowa stands right before conference play. Saint Louis is also there for Week 4.
Just one of these:
2024 Outlook:Iowa should have two goals in 2024. The first is to find a stable lineup, preferably with a good amount of players who plan on sticking around for more than one year. The second goal is to get off the deck and win a conference match.
Both are feasible. Iowa's massive year-to-year roster turnover has been the defining characteristic of Barnes's coaching tenure so far. Sure, a tenure heading into its third year isn't a huge sample size, but it's been hard to know where this Iowa rebuild is going. Use this new-look roster to finally find some direction.
The schedule is set up nicely to avoid dropping another donut in conference play. Getting Rutgers twice is nice, and the Scarlet Knights might be more beatable than they were last year. The Northwestern double-dip yields two more matches against a rebuilding program. Having Nebraska twice makes extra money.
2024 likely won't offer a huge uptick in the win column, but a lighter non-conference slate could help the Hawkeyes reach last year's eight-win threshold. For a team picked to finish 18th out of 18 Big Ten teams, every little bit helps.
