Nov. 8, 2003
CHAMPAIGN, IL – For the second consecutive night, the Iowa volleyball team’s third-game rally came up short. The Hawkeyes were defeated by Illinois, 3-0, Saturday evening at Huff Hall. The loss marks Iowa’s 14th conference defeat.
Illinois pulled out to a fast start to begin the match with a 7-2 lead in game one. Iowa rallied with a kill by junior Carolyn Giese and capitalized on three consecutive Illinois errors to close the lead, 7-6. The Illini once again took control, posting a 12-5 run to take a 19-11 advantage. The Hawkeyes were unable to make a comeback as Illinois won game one, 30-21.
Game two began as a back-and-forth battle with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage until Illinois took a 15-12 lead. Iowa continued to fight back, but its effort came up short as Illinois recorded the 30-25 win.
Illinois carried its momentum out of intermission, beginning game three with a 7-3 advantage. The Hawkeyes fought back collecting the next four points to tie the score. Iowa then took the lead at 8-7 and collected ten of the next 18 points to lead, 18-15. Illinois came back and once again regained the lead at 20-19. The game continued to be a close battle. With the score tied, 27-27, Iowa could only muster one of the final four points. Illinois came away with the 30-28 win to claim the match. It marked the second straight night that Iowa lost by a 30-28 deficit in the third game. It also marked the second consecutive night that Iowa held the advantage in hitting percentage in game three (.176-.167).
In overall match statistics, Iowa dominated the Illini at the net, posting a season-best 13 blocks compared to Illinois’ nine. Senior Abby Tjaden led the Hawkeyes with one solo block and six block assists. The Hawkeyes registered 39 kills, 38 assists, one service ace and 54 digs. Illinois posted 56 kills, 54 assists, five service aces and 64 digs. Iowa was out-hit .105-.212.
Freshman Tiana Costanzo recorded her third double-double of the season. She led the Iowa in kills for the first time in her career, posting 11 and collected 12 digs. Senior Jitka Stehnova produced a solid all-around effort with 32 assists, five kills, eight digs and a career best five blocks (one solo, four assists). Junior Pam Kavadas led Iowa with 14 digs.
Iowa (5-19, 0-14) will return home next weekend to host Indiana Friday and Purdue Saturday. Both competitions are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.