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Barnes confident Iowa volleyball will take another leap in 2026 IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - Iowa volleyball is entering the season with new expectations after three years of climbing back from the bottom of the Big Ten. There’s a new competition in the conference. 2026 will have the first-ever Big Ten Tournament. Third-year setter Jenna Meitzler said the team is excited for it. “I’m so excited. I don’t know why we didn’t do it earlier,” Meitzler said. New challenges early in the season The Hawkeyes will face early tests this season, including the inaugural SEC/Big Ten Challenge. Head coach Jim Barnes is already looking ahead to the conference rivalry. “There’s no harder place to play on the road than in the Big Ten. We’ll go to another place that’s not quite as hard and play the SEC,” Barnes said. Program has improved since winless 2023 season Iowa went 0-20 in the Big Ten in 2023. The program has steadily improved since then, finishing 6-10 in the conference last season. Barnes said he expects another improvement this season. “It will be. There’s no hoping. It’s going to be better,” Barnes said. Second-year outside hitter Carmel Varez said the team needs to perform better in close matches to take the next step. “I mean we just have to play better and win more five setters than we did last season,” Varez said. Iowa played 13 five-set matches last season and lost nine of them. Team focuses on close-match execution Third-year libero Jamie Marquardt said the team has been practicing to 15 points to address that issue. “We’re right there with those ranked teams. So just converting a couple more points this year. We know we’re right there,” Marquardt said. Eight Big Ten teams are ranked in the preseason this year. Copyright 2026 KCRG. All rights reserved.