Ahead of Big Ten play, Iowa volleyball sees on-court growth

IOWA CITY — Freshman Gia McGrew flew more than 1,100 miles away from home to play collegiate volleyball — but it hasn’t felt that far away.

The Hawkeye volleyball outside hitter made her first collegiate start against Iowa State on Wednesday, leading the team with 13 kills and two digs. Her family, still back in Gainesville, Fla., was cheering her on the entire way.

“Oh they’ll be here next weekend,” McGrew said Wednesday. “They try to come as much as they can, but yeah, they watch everything.”

Taking the Cyclones to five sets, the Hawkeyes have made significant strides since the start of the season. Even though that match didn’t end in an Iowa victory.

“I think it's big because this is very much like a Big Ten match,” Head coach Jim Barnes said. “We gave ourselves chances to win, and through the loss, there's such valuable stuff that we're going to gain from it. So like I said, I hate to lose, but I'm really grateful for what we've learned in this kind of a game that will get us ready for some Big Ten matches.”

With their best start since 2009, Iowa kicked off the year with a 6-0 start before its first loss. The Hawkeyes had two losses before facing their in-state rival, both in five sets.

"We don't have multiple years of them all playing together, so we stub ourselves on the toe at times," Barnes said. "Not because of our talent, just because of our inexperience playing together. So we keep some teams in it when we should be putting them away."

Iowa starts Big Ten play on Thursday, hosting Maryland. They play No. 7 Wisconsin on Sunday.

Even before the season started, the Hawkeyes could tell there was something different about their team. There was a wealth of talent, spanning from freshmen like McGrew all through the senior class.

Their bond, especially, was there. Senior Claire Ammeraal hadn’t seen any Iowa team gel as quick as this year’s Hawkeyes did. Iowa added maturity into its lineup with transfer players like libero Milana Moisio and outside hitter Chard’e Vanzdant — both of whom earned immediate starting roles.

The goal was to help balance the roster out with the young talents like McGrew, but it also created a team chemistry other Hawkeyes hadn’t experienced before.

“I love every single one of them,” Ammeraal said during the team’s media day in August. “And just not only the bond, but the intensity. Everyone has such a strong want for success and doing well, and so that's really nice to see. Their effort that they put in makes you want to put in more effort — and so it's a little contagious.”

The Hawkeyes play in one of the most competitive volleyball conferences in the country, and will host programs like the Badgers, Ohio State and reigning national champion Penn State. Iowa was picked 17th in the Big Ten preseason poll.

Barnes is in his fourth season as a Big Ten head coach. He’s won just a handful of conference games in that time, but knows this is the year Iowa fans could see a jump in progress.

“I think this year will be the catalyst to all the seasons that are going to come, because I think this team is going to win,” he said in August. “I think they're going to win a lot of games, and, and people are going to love the way they play.”

Iowa is 11th in the conference after the nonconference schedule wrapped up Sunday, and only Michigan State and Nebraska were left undefeated. The Hawkeyes nonconference schedule included wins over UNLV, Illinois Chicago and, most recently, Lindenwood.

The Hawkeyes’ only back-to-back loss so far this year was when they faced Weber State and the Cyclones last weekend.

“I think you could say we hate to lose to this team or any other team,” Barnes said. “But I think it was a great learning match for us, because we gave ourselves chances, and the mistakes we made at those critical moments can be fixed. And there's no better fixer than to fall short and get to watch that on film again.”

If there’s a season for change at Iowa, Barnes believes this is the year. There’s still only one way they’ll find out, and it starts against the Terrapins Thursday night.

“I think that this is a very special team that's going to do very special things,” McGrew said. “And I think that we're just gonna mesh together, and it's gonna play well on the court.“

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