Oct. 19, 2003
COLUMBUS, OH – The Iowa women’s volleyball team dropped its ninth consecutive match of the season Sunday afternoon in a 3-0 loss to Ohio State at St. John Arena. The loss marks the Hawkeyes’ ninth consecutive sweep and eighth conference loss.
Game one proved to be a close battle with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage until Ohio State took a 23-20 lead. The Hawkeyes managed to keep the game close, but where unable to pull ahead. With the score tied, 28-28, the Buckeyes claimed the final two points for the 30-28 win. Iowa posted a .214 hitting percentage compared to Ohio State’s .189, but were edged in kills, 22-12. Freshman Meredith Stach led the way for Iowa with four kills. Freshman Tiana Costanzo added three kills. Junior Pam Kavadas posted five digs. Senior Jitka Stehnova and junior Laura Simpson each added four digs.
The Buckeyes pulled out to a 7-3 lead to start game two. The Hawkeyes fought back, closing the gap, 13-10. Iowa came within two points to make the score 19-17, but its efforts fell short as Ohio State claimed 11 of the final 17 points for the 30-23 win. Iowa mustered nine kills compared to the Buckeyes’ 21. Stehnova collected five kills. Kavadas added five digs.
After falling behind, 3-0, to start game three, the Hawkeyes gained momentum posting an 8-1 run to claim its biggest lead of the match at 8-4. Iowa extended its lead, 18-13, but the Buckeyes managed a comeback and eventually tied the score at 20-20. The game then turned into a fierce back-and-forth battle. With the score tied, 29-29, Ohio State claimed the final two points off two Iowa ball handling errors to claim the 31-29 victory and clinch the match. In overall statistics, the Hawkeyes held the advantage with 45 digs and eight total team blocks compared to Ohio State’s 44 digs and 7.5 blocks. Iowa was out-hit .226-.117 and collected 33 kills compared to the Buckeyes’ 57. The Hawkeyes registered 32 assists and no service aces compared to Ohio State’s 55 assists and five aces.
Stehnova led the way for the Hawkeyes with eight kills and no errors in 10 total attempts, hitting at a .800 clip. The mark ties junior Amoreena Reynolds’ school record for best attack percentage in a match (minimum of 10 total attempts) set last season. Stehnova narrowly missed a triple double as she added 22 assists and 10 digs. She also recorded one block and one block assist. Stach recorded a career-high seven kills in her second career start. Kavadas tallied a team-best 13 digs. Sophomore Lauren Bruckner tied a career-high nine digs. Simpson collected five kills and seven digs. Junior Carolyn Giese also added five kills.
Iowa (5-13, 0-8) will return home to host 18th-ranked Michigan State Friday evening. Competition is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.