Hawkeyes bested the Bulldogs in straight sets, 25-21, 25-21, and 25-17.

Iowa Hawkeye Hannah Whittingstall (12) tries to hit the ball Drake defenders at Xtream Arena in Coralville Wednesday, September 16, 2026. (Photo/Amir Prellberg, The Gazette)

Jack Birmingham, Assistant Sports Editor | Daily Iowan

Iowa volleyball swept a visiting Drake team in Wednesday night’s home contest, played at Xtream Arena in Coralville, Iowa. The Hawkeyes outkilled the Bulldogs, 45-39, to win in straight sets.

Third-year Hallie Steponaitis led Iowa with 11 kills, followed by fourth-year Hannah Whittingstall and fifth-year Liv Mogridge with nine kills each. Third-year Jenna Meitzler contributed 34 assists, as well as four kills and two digs, while first-year Henlee Moszkowicz put up eight digs for the Hawkeyes.

“I think we worked really hard during preseason [for] me [to] be able to dump a couple more balls just to open up our hitters, specifically Hannah too,” Meitzler said after the game. “When the middles jump with me, Hannah’s got a one-on-one; it’s almost an automatic kill, even when she has a double block sometimes.”

Set One

Both squads traded 3-0 runs to start the action, kicking off an evenly matched start to the contest that saw Iowa take a narrow 15-14 lead at the set’s media timeout, by which point the score had tied six times.

After back-to-back kills from fourth-year Rosa Vesty and Whittingstall, the Hawkeyes took an 18-15 lead, their biggest at the time, forcing the Bulldogs to take a timeout. 

“After the first set, [Coach] was like, ‘Yeah, they hit over .400,’ and I think once we heard that number out loud, we were like ‘Oh, shoot!’” Whittingstall said. “I think that lit something under us and we just went in. Everyone did their job, and I think moving forward, we just need to start the game doing that.”

Drake capitalized on an attack error shortly after to cut the gap to two points, later embarking on a 4-0 run to get within two points again, but Iowa never relinquished its lead and rode the momentum all the way to a 25-21 victory in the first set.

Set Two

The Bulldogs again got on the board first, but the Hawkeyes kept themselves in the game with timely hitting, including kills from Vesty and second-year Ksenija Tomic, tying the score seven times en route to another 15-14 lead at the media timeout.

The two teams went on to tie three more times following the break, but Iowa again kept itself on the higher end of the scoreboard, forcing another Drake timeout after gaining a 19-17 edge.

The Hawkeyes quickly forced another timeout from the Bulldogs after a service ace from Steponaitis propelled Iowa to a 21-18 lead and, upon returning to the court, closed out the second set, 25-21, with Vesty’s fourth kill of the night.

Set Three

Iowa scored early and often to start the third set, getting things going with a 3-0 run and extending its lead to 15-11 at the usual media timeout, the biggest lead the Hawkeyes held at that specific point all night.

While Iowa didn’t see any flashy scoring runs, there were no lead changes in the third set, nor was there a point that the Hawkeyes and Bulldogs were tied after the earlier 8-8 deadlock.

Iowa’s blocking and overall hitting continued to improve over the course of the third set, with the Hawkeyes finishing the match with an overall hitting percentage of .367, compared to a .229 clip for the Bulldogs. This all culminated in Iowa’s biggest win of the night over Drake, 25-17.

“They know the game, and it’s just getting them to settle down and slow the point down a little bit,” head coach Jim Barnes said. “We served better and better as the match went on, which made the blocking easier.”

Bulldog Nuggets

Drake hit at a clip of .229 on the night and was led by Melenciano with 11 kills. Next in line for Drake offensively was Caroline Smith with nine kills. Katie Quick had a team-high 21 assists while Carolyn Maser added 11 helpers of her own. Dulan went for 11 digs to pace Drake defensively.

Up Next

Iowa returns to action at the Kwik Star Classic, facing off against Texas Tech on Sept. 18. The Hawkeyes and the Red Raiders will begin competition at 11 a.m. CT, with coverage provided by Big Ten Plus and the Hawkeye Radio Network.

Drake will continue their trek into Big Ten territory this weekend as they head to East Lansing, Michigan for the Kathy DeBoer Invitational Presented by Auto-Owners Insurance. Drake will play a doubleheader on Friday first taking on Wright State at noon CT and following against Michigan State at 5 p.m. CT.