Michigan State University
15-4,5-4Big Ten
Iowa
11-10,2-7Big Ten
Spartans Fall to Iowa in Road Contest
10/24/2025 9:38:00 PM | Volleyball
CORALVILLE, Iowa -Â Michigan State volleyball fell to Iowa in four sets (25-22, 25-27, 19-25, 22-25) Friday night inside Iowa's Xtream Arena.Â
MSU falls to 15-4 overall with the result and 5-4 in the Big Ten, while Iowa improves to 11-10 overall and 2-7 in the league.Â
Iowa posted a .273 hitting percentage for the match compared to MSU's .234 and led in total kills (67-to-56), digs (68-65) and service aces (7-4). The Spartans held a 9-8 edge in total blocks.Â
Junior outside hitter Karolina Staniszewska posted a career and team-high 23 kills, her first time eclipsing the 20-kill mark in her career, and added 12 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Junior middle blocker Zuzanna Kulig tallied nine kills on a team-best .529 hitting clip and recorded a team-high five total blocks. Alongside Staniszewska, four Spartans posted double-digit digs, with redshirt freshman setter Malayah Long recording a team-high 15, while junior libero Lia Schneider and sophomore defensive specialist Mya Bolton each added 10. Long also provided a team-high 46 assists.Â
Staniszewska, Long and Bolton each recorded one service ace alongside junior outside hitter Taylah Holdem.Â
After Iowa got out to an early 3-2 lead in the opening set, the Spartans used a 6-0 run to force a Hawkeye timeout, sparked by a Staniszewska kill and followed with a triple block from Long, Staniszewska and Carmen Waye and a Waye solo block, to make it 7-3. A Bolton service ace out of the timeout then made it 8-3 in favor of the Spartans. The teams traded points back-and-forth in the following points until back-to-back MSU errors got Iowa within three at 17-14, but a Mumcular kill and dump from Long helped extend the Spartan lead back to five at 19-14. A Doezema kill got the Spartans to set point at 24-18 before Iowa fought off four set points to close the gap to two at 24-22, but a Staniszewska kill sealed the first set, 25-22.Â
The Hawkeyes maintained a one-point lead through the early points of the second set until an Iowa error and Waye solo block tied the set at 8-8 and again at 9-9 with a Waye kill. The Spartans took their first lead of the set at 11-10 with a kill from Staniszewska and service ace from Long and extended their advantage to two with a Kulig kill to make it 12-10. Iowa responded with a 4-0 run to take a two-point, 15-13 lead at the media timeout. The Spartans tied the set up at 15-15 with an Iowa error and Staniszewska kill and again at 17-17 with Staniszewska's 10th kill of the night, but Iowa used a 4-2 run to force an MSU timeout after taking the lead at 21-19. After the Hawkeyes extended their lead to three with a service ace out of the timeout, the Spartans used a pair of kills from Kulig and Staniszewska to force an Iowa timeout, and tied the set at 22-22 after a Hawkeye service error. Iowa reclaimed the lead at 23-22 with a kill, but another Staniszewska tied the set again at 23-23 before the Hawkeyes used another kill to get to set point at 24-23. An Iowa error tied the set at 24-24 and a Staniszewska kill tied the set again at 25-25 before the Hawkeyes used a kill and service ace to take the second frame in extra points, 27-25.Â
The Spartans called a timeout after Iowa took a five-point lead at 10-5 to start the third set. The Hawkeyes fired off four-straight points out of the timeout to increase their lead to nine at 14-5, but the Spartans used a 9-4 run to get within four and force an Iowa timeout at 18-14. An Iowa error and Kulig kill helped the Spartans get as close as three at 19-16 before a Holdem kill shrunk the Hawkeye lead to three again at 20-17, but a 5-2 Hawkeye run to close the set gave Iowa the third, 25-19.Â
MSU opened the fourth set with a 3-2 lead before a 6-2 Iowa run forced a Spartan timeout at 8-4. After the Hawkeyes used a 4-1 run out of the timeout to extend their lead to six at 11-5, a block from Waye and Holdem and a Holdem kill cut the deficit to 11-7 before MSU used a 3-1 run of its own, capped off by a career-high 20th kill from Staniszewska, to get within three at 13-10. After an Iowa error stretched the Hawkeye lead back to four, the Spartans used kills from Staniszewska and Doezema along with an Iowa error to get within a point and force a Hawkeye timeout at 14-13. Iowa fired off three-straight kills out of the timeout to increase its advantage back to four at 17-13 and earned its first match point at 24-19, but a Hawkeye error, block from Staniszewska and Kulig and a Kulig solo block helped MSU to a 3-0 run to force an Iowa timeout at 24-22. Iowa used a kill out of the timeout to take the set, 25-22, and match, 3-1.Â
Up next, MSU travels to Lincoln to take on No. 1 Nebraska on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 8:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.Â
