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59 SEPTEMBER SCHEDULE Sept. 6 vs. UAB Tempe, Ariz. noon Sept. 6 vs. Idaho State Tempe, Ariz. 7 p.m. Sept. 7 at Arizona State Tempe, Ariz. 1 p.m. Sept. 12 vs. Eastern Illinois Brookings, S.D. 10 a.m. Sept. 12 vs. North Dakota Brookings, S.D. 5 p.m. Sept. 13 vs. Florida International Brookings, S.D. 10 a.m. Sept. 13 at South Dakota State Brookings, S.D. 7 p.m. Sept. 20 at Iowa State Ames, Iowa 4 p.m. Sept. 24 at Nebraska Lincoln, Neb. 7 p.m. Sept. 27 Nebraska Iowa City, Iowa 7 p.m. Oct. 3 Ohio State Iowa City, Iowa 7 p.m. Oct. 4 Penn State Iowa City, Iowa 7 p.m. "We're an excited group," Shymansky said. "We've made a lot of great improvements even over the course of the preseason. We have depth and we have a lot of people that are finding ways to con- tribute. I'm fired up. "We have loy goals within our group, but they're also real- istic goals. We know that performing well in the Big Ten gives you a right to stake a claim on an NCAA berth and potentially a Final Four appear- ance. e ultimate goal for our program is to win the national title. A lot of that starts with what we're doing today with this group." UI volleyball begins the regular season with three tournaments at the Texas A&M Tournament on Aug. 28-29, Arizona State Tournament on Sept. 6-7, and 2014 South Dakota State Classic on Sept. 12-13. Following road matches at Iowa State on Sept. 20 and at Nebraska on Sept. 24, the Hawk- eyes compete for the first time in Carver-Hawkeye Arena against the Cornhuskers on Sept. 27. A new era of University of Iowa volleyball is here. Since being hired on in late January, first-year head coach Bond Shymansky has been busy rebuilding the foundation of Hawkeye volleyball. e restructure began with the addition of top caliber coaches in associate head coach Michaela Franklin, who joined the program aer being a head coach at Wisconsin-Green Bay for a season, and assistant coach Jackie Simpson, who was an All-American setter at Wisconsin. Both served on Shymansky's coaching staff at Marquette. From there the staff focused on retraining stu- dent-athletes in a new, fast-paced playing system. Spring practice and exhibition matches aided the transition, giving the returning Hawkeyes valu- able experience to take into summer training. e learning continued throughout fall camp. "I think the progress you're going to see it just in the way we compete, the style we compete with, the game we'll play is a lot faster than most other big teams are going to play," Shymansky said. "It's going to have more risk ele- ments, so there might be times where we'll have to live on both edges of the sword. Sometimes we'll be able to slice with it. Sometimes we'll get cut." e Hawkeyes are excited and motivated in the new system. e squad — which returns a core of talent in kills leader Alex Lovell, blocks leader Alessandra Dietz and setter Alyssa Klostermann who logged time in each match last season — is eager to see their work come to fruition on the court. Shymanksy loves their enthusiasm. "We're an excited group. We've made a lot of great improvements even over the course of the preseason…We have depth and we have a lot of people that are finding ways to contribute. I'm fired up." Bond Shymansky | UI head volleyball coach