It was a weekend the Michigan volleyball team would like to forget.

The No. 16 Wolverines (10-6 Big Ten, 21-7 overall) took only one set in a Midwest road trip, losing back-to-back matches — to Minnesota and Iowa — for the first time this season.

Michigan began its weekend falling to the 22nd-ranked Golden Gophers, 3-0. Junior outside hitter Alex Hunt led the Wolverines offensively with nine kills, while senior setter Lexi Zimmerman added 31 assists. Minnesota (9-6, 19-8) relied on early runs — including an 8-1 streak in the first set and eight straight in the second — to win all three sets handily.

Hunt’s strong play carried over to Saturday against the Hawkeyes but wasn’t enough to pick up the sluggish Michigan squad. Her 19 kills and 12 digs again led the Wolverines, who fell to Iowa, 3-1.

Despite the fact that four sets against Iowa (2-14, 7-18) were decided by a combined 12 points, it can’t be ignored that Michigan lost to the last place team in the Big Ten.

“I don’t think we played well at all this weekend,” Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. “Anytime we play and we lose a match like we did (Saturday night), nobody in our program feels that this is acceptable or feels like this is what we want or expect from our program. None of us feel like we did our job, whether it was coaches or the players.”

The reeling Wolverines, who fell to third place in the Big Ten after the weekend, return to friendly confines this weekend coming, with two games at Cliff Keen Arena.

“We all talked about the fact that nobody was comfortable with it, nobody felt like we played at the level we’re capable of, and we all know that there’s no answer to fixing it other than hard work,” Rosen said. “We are playing tight. I think the expectations are challenging for everybody anytime you’re having a good year. We’ve got to get back to playing volleyball and not worrying about all of the little stuff and make sure we’re playing the best volleyball we can.”

Zimmerman, for her part, looks forward to proving that the weekend was merely a flake.

“I don’t think we were prepared — mentally or physically — to play our best game, Friday or Saturday,” Zimmerman said. “I think it’s important to have perspective and realize that even though it’s late in the year, the season’s not over by any means.”

With only four remaining regular season games, Michigan takes on Purdue, who the Wolverines defeated earlier this season, on Friday. Michigan takes the floor in their final home match on Saturday, which serves as senior night for defensive specialist Maggie Busch and the All-American Zimmerman, against Indiana.

“We need to get back into Michigan volleyball because this weekend wasn’t a good representation of how hard we’ve worked and how well we’ve done throughout the season,” Hunt said. “They’re both definitely going to be good matches. They’re both good teams. I think we can expect some battles. But I don’t expect anything less than wins out of both.”