CHICAGO, IL -- Iowa volleyball underwent a major transition last year, bringing in new head coach Jim Barnes and retooling the roster with a plethora of transfers. The Hawks finished 10-21 (4-16) but ended the year with a pair of conference wins. The team is hoping to carry that momentum into this season.
"Last year, we played to the end through every match and we had chances, and we got it done in our last two matches of five-setters. The game teaches the game better than coaches do...so I think we've really accelerated our learning in two short years," Barnes said at the Big Ten's second annual Volleyball Media Days event on Wednesday.
The Hawkeyes pushed #14 Penn State and #5 Purdue to five sets last season before pulling out five-set wins over Michigan State and Michigan to close the year.
Iowa utilizes a somewhat unique offensive system, looking to play through their middle hitters rather than their pin hitters. The Hawkeyes want to play fast and give opposing teams a look unlike anything else they'll find in the Big Ten.
"We were able to make teams defend us in ways they weren't comfortable with because of how much not only we attacked the middle but that we stopped their middle so that they become a little bit more one-dimensional," Barnes told reporters Wednesday.
It's an intriguing system, but one that relies on precision passing and pinpoint setting. That proposition is made more difficult with the graduation of Amiya Jones, a team leader and one of the team's leading hitters throughout her career. Senior Delaney McSweeney spent all summer working to step into those shoes.
Coming off a strong first season in black and gold, McSweeney knew her role would grow in the coming year. "I was just really focused on strength and speed. We like to run things fast in our gym. It was something that I was very focused on in the off-season," she said.
Growth in the Big Ten, the nation's most competitive volleyball conference, is no easy task. The Hawkeyes laid a solid foundation last season, notching the most wins for the program since 2016, but this year's team is still a group in transition, with nine returning players and nine new faces.
Setter and native Iowan Bailey Ortega thinks the group is well-equipped to continue to build on last year's team, saying, "All of us returners are really building on the confidence we have within each other and building confidence with the newcomers, and I think combining the confidence of both of those sections of our team will really show that we are in a great year two with [Coach Barnes] and that things are going to be better and that they will continue to be better as Iowa volleyball grows to be a power in the Big Ten."
Clearly, there's a strong belief within the team that they're taking the first steps to build something strong and sustainable as a program. And the Hawkeyes are looking at some of the best for inspiration.
Ortega spent time with the Iowa women's basketball team and coaches over the offseason, looking to learn not just for her future in coaching, but also at what makes the bond on that team so special. "I love the way they play for each other. They're all best friends, and they all really enjoy being around each other. So I think that's something we can continue to implement and that I think we do have in our gym, " she said on Wednesday.
"I think it's really inspiring because people never heard of Iowa women's basketball until a couple years ago," McSweeney agreed. "It blew up this year. It just shows how much you can do in a year or two years...It just shows how much can change in a year when you have the right determination and when you want to work hard for each other and be happy doing it."
Hawkeye volleyball may not have a superstar recruit like Caitlin Clark, but the comparisons between women's basketball and volleyball are apt, as both are experiencing huge growth in viewership and fan interest. The Big Ten is airing a record 64 conference games on its family of networks this season (BTN, FS1, FS2, and Fox), including the first-ever Fox broadcast on October 29th.
Additionally, Nebraska will play a match in Memorial Stadium on August 30th that is expected to attract over 80,000 fans, smashing the previous attendance record (18,755) for an NCAA volleyball game.
Four Iowa games are scheduled to be televised this season (all times CT):
* September 21 -- Minnesota (7:00, FS1)
* October 4 -- Wisconsin (7:00, BTN)
* October 13 -- Penn State (7:00, BTN)
* October 28 -- Maryland (8:00, BTN).
Many other games will be available on BTN+.
It's shaping up to be a potentially transformative year for Iowa volleyball, and college volleyball as a whole. The Hawkeyes still have work to do before they're mentioned in the same breath as the top of the conference, many of whom have national title aspirations for this season, but the arrow looks to be pointing upwards.
There's confidence among the group that the right person is at the helm and that the team's culture is taking shape. I expect the Hawkeyes will again put together their best season in several years, though that might not yet translate to a top-half finish in the Big Ten standings, given the quality of the league.
Iowa opens the 2023 season at the Sacramento State Invitational, which gets underway on August 25th against Cal Poly. Sacramento State and Nevada will also compete in the tournament, with the Hawks taking on Sacramento State on August 26th and Nevada on August 27th.
