Nov. 28, 2003
IOWA CITY, IA – The Iowa women’s volleyball team lost its 18th conference match of the season Friday evening in a 3-0 loss to Ohio State in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Game one proved to be a close battle with neither team holding a solid advantage. With Ohio State leading, 3-1, the Hawkeyes fought back collecting 10 of the next 16 points for the 11-9 advantage. The Hawkeyes continued to hold on to the lead, pulling out to a 26-20 advantage. The Buckeyes bounced back, posting an 8-2 run to tie the score at 28-28. With the score tied again at 29-29, Ohio State claimed the final two points for the 31-29 win. Juniors Laura Simpson and Carolyn Giese and senior Jitka Stehnova led Iowa with four kills. Junior Pam Kavadas recorded seven digs.
Ohio State once again took a 3-1 lead to begin game two, but the Hawkeyes quickly came back, tying the score at 3-3. The game remained deadlocked with neither team taking more than a two-point lead until Iowa took a 13-10 advantage. Ohio State managed to tie things up at 14-14 and gained control of the lead with a 19-17 advantage. With Iowa behind, 28-26, the Buckeyes capitalized off of two Iowa errors for the 30-26 win. Simpson and Giese each registered five kills. Freshman Jacqueline Huguelet added four kills and four digs.
The Hawkeyes came out of intermission with a 3-1 lead to start game three. Ohio State posted a 9-3 run to take a 10-6 lead. Ohio State maintained control of the lead and went on to take game three, 30-26, claiming the match. Freshman Lastascia Granger stepped up in the final game with a career-high six kills. Simpson and freshman April Mech each collected three kills. Stehnova posted six digs.
In final match statistics, the Hawkeyes collected 52 kills, 48 assists, three service aces, 45 digs and 5.5 team blocks. Ohio State registered 56 kills, 50 assists, six aces, 48 digs and six team blocks. Iowa was out-hit, .305-.252.
Simpson led Iowa with 12 kills. She also collected four block assists. Stehnova posted her 10th double-double of the season with 37 assists and 10 digs. She also hit at a .545 clips (7-1-11). Giese hit at a .400 clip (11-3-20) and tallied a team-best five block assists. Granger finished the match with a .667 hitting percentage (6-0-9). Mech collected six kills and six digs. Kavadas recorded 10 digs.
Iowa (6-23, 1-18) will host 11th-ranked Penn State tomorrow evening in its season finale. Competition is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Stehnova and fellow seniors Louise Bates and Abby Tjaden will be honored prior to the match.