Oct. 8, 2003
IOWA CITY, IA – The Iowa women’s volleyball team lost its sixth consecutive match Wednesday evening in a 3-0 loss to Minnesota at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The loss marks the Hawkeyes’ fifth Big Ten loss and sixth consecutive sweep.
The beginning of game one proved to be a close battle. With Minnesota leading 12-9, the Gophers collected the next 10 points for take a 22-9 lead. Iowa registered five of the next eight points to close the lead, 25-14, but its effort fell short as the Hawkeyes claimed only one of the final six points to give Minnesota the 30-15 victory. Iowa was edged in kills, 15-14, and committed nine attack errors compared to the Gophers’ two to hit at a .132 clip.
Game two proved to be Iowa’s strongest of the match. After a back-and-forth battle the Hawkeyes took a 13-11 lead. The Gophers answered, claiming the next six points to pull ahead, 17-13. Iowa once again fought back and remained in the match until Minnestoa pulled away at the end for the 30-27 victory. The Hawkeyes collected a match-high 18 kills and hit at a .233 clip. The Gophers also collected 18 kills.
After intermission, the Hawkeyes lost momentum as Minnesota pulled out to a 9-3 lead to start game three. The Gophers continued to control the game and ended up with a 30-19 victory to claim the match. Hitting percentage proved to be a factor as the Gophers committed only two attack errors with 18 kills to hit at a .485 clip. Iowa recorded 15 kills and committed seven errors to hit at a .195 clip.
As a team, Iowa registered 47 kills, committed 23 attack errors in 122 attempts for a .197 hitting percentage. The Hawkeyes collected 44 assists, one service ace, 35 digs and two team blocks. Minnesota posted 51 kills with only nine errors in 102 attempts for a .412 hitting percentage. The Gophers collected 45 assists, three service aces, 48 digs and nine team blocks.
Junior Laura Simpson once again led the Iowa attack with 22 kills and seven digs. Junior Carolyn Giese added 10 kills and three digs. Sophomore Echaka Agba registered six kills and five digs. Junior Pam Kavadas added seven digs.
The Hawkeyes (5-10, 0-5) will travel to Madison, WI, Friday evening to face 21st-ranked Wisconsin. Competition is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Wisconsin Field House.