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33 S arah Lehman's path to college soball was not the most direct. Before she came to the diamond, Lehman made a detour as an outside hitter for Coe College. at is right, the senior pitcher started her career playing Division III volleyball. at fall, Lehman played in 105 sets, recording 161 kills and 19 assists in her season with the Kohawks. Lehman knew she wanted to switch back to playing soball in the spring of her first year. "at was my first time not having a spring season," she said. "It just felt like I was missing something. I went on the first spring break I could ever go on, and it was like 'this is weird.'" Her path back to Iowa City was much clearer. Lehman transferred and walked on at Iowa. e Iowa City native prepped at Regina High School. As a multisport athlete in high school Lehman was a four-year volleyball and basketball letterwinner. In soball, she was a three-time first team All-State selection. She still holds the record for most strikeouts in a state tournament game (22). "It is something that I have always thought about," said Lehman. "I have always looked up to Hawkeye athletes. When I was a young kid, my dad used to take me to all the soball games. I just could always picture myself here." For Lehman, the jump to Division I college athletics was an adjustment. e biggest difference being time. "For volleyball we couldn't really have mandatory practices in the offseason," said Lehman. "We would have team get-togethers where we would play, but it is not like here where we have a season in the fall and spring. It is a lot more time. e two sports are very different as well." Lehman made an immediate impact for the Hawkeyes her sophomore year. She ranked second on the team in strikeouts (50) in 18 appearances. As a junior things were a little bit rocky as she battled injuries. She ended up only pitching 0.1 innings in the pandemic-shortened season. Now a senior, Lehman has bounced back stronger than ever. As one of three senior pitchers for the Hawkeyes, she is part of the group that Iowa head coach Renee Gillispie has dubbed her "three number ones." She has made seven starts for the Hawkeyes and has gone the distance in all seven games. She has five wins with 55 innings pitched. With an ERA of 1.53, Lehman ranks 12th in the Big Ten. She ranks fih in the conference in opponent batting average (.185). Her seven complete games are tied for first in the conference. Lehman and the Hawkeyes have won 11 of their last 14 games and have taken series victories against Penn State, Maryland, Purdue and Indiana. Aer making the transition from volleyball to soball and making the journey back home to Iowa City, Lehman is thriving and the Hawkeyes are seeing the results. APRIL SCHEDULE April 9 at Wisconsin April 10 at Wisconsin (DH) April 11 at Wisconsin April 16 Northwestern April 17 Northwestern (DH) April 18 Northwestern April 23 at Minnesota April 24 at Minnesota (DH) April 25 at Minnesota April 30 at Rutgers