Oct. 3, 2003
IOWA CITY, IA – The Iowa volleyball team lost its fourth consecutive match of the season Friday evening in a 3-0 loss to Illinois at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The loss marks Iowa’s fourth consecutive sweep.
The Hawkeyes pulled out to a fast start in game one, claiming an 8-2 lead with three kills by sophomore Echaka Agba and two by junior Carolyn Giese to force an Illini timeout. Illinois fought back with 10 of the next 13 points to take a 12-11 lead, forcing an Iowa timeout. The Illini continued to increase its lead, 26-20, to force another Iowa timeout. Illinois claimed four of the final five points to take the first game 30-21. Errors proved costly for the Hawkeyes as Iowa recorded 12 attack errors, three service errors and one ball handling error compared to only three total errors for Illinois. Junior Laura Simpson led the Hawkeye attack with six kills. Agba added four kills and Giese posted three.
Illinois took the momentum to begin game two pulling out to a 7-2 lead. The Illini continued its lead over the Hawkeyes, pulling out to a 13-6 margin. Iowa fought back with two kills by Simpson to close the lead, 13-14, forcing an Illinois timeout. The Hawkeyes managed to tie the match several times but were unable to pull ahead. With the score tied, 23-23, the Illini claimed seven of the final nine points for the 30-25 victory. Simpson finished the game with five kills and one service ace. Freshman April Mech added four kills.
After intermission the Hawkeyes took a 3-2 lead to start game three with two kills by Simpson on one by Mech. Illinois claimed the next five points to force an Iowa timeout with the score 7-3. The Illini continued its attack pulling out to a 15-8 lead to for the Hawkeyes’ second timeout. The Hawkeyes lost momentum as Illinois went on for the 30-18 victory to claim the match. Iowa posted 10 kills while committing 12 errors for a -.049 hitting percentage.
Errors once again proved to be the deciding factor for the Hawkeyes as Iowa committed 30 attack errors, eight service errors and two ball handling errors. Iowa finished the game with 43 kills and a .098 hitting percentage. Illinois committed only 15 total errors, posted 49 kills and hit at a .312 clip. Iowa collected 38 assists compared to Illinois’ 42, 43 digs compared to Illinois’ 50 and seven total team blocks compared to the Illini’s 10.
For the fourth consecutive match, Simpson led the Hawkeye attack with 17 kills. Junior Pam Kavadas registered a team-high 18 digs. Agba recorded eight kills and four digs. Mech and Giese each collected seven kills. Freshman Meredith Stach collected a career-best three kills. Iowa (5-8, 0-3) will return to action tomorrow night when it faces Northwestern. Competition is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.