Sept. 24, 2004
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This Week: Following three pre-season tournaments, Iowa (8-3) begins the Big Ten conference season Friday against Michigan (9-1) and Saturday versus Michigan State (5-3). Both matches are slated to start at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Iowa-Michigan match will be televised by the Fox Sports Network and shown Sunday at 6 p.m. Live statistics and updates of all home matches can be found on the volleyball results page at www.hawkeyesports.com under Gametracker.
Last Week: Iowa hosted the Hawkeye-Holiday Inn Challenge that included Chicago State, Eastern Washington, and Furman. The Hawkeyes posted a 2-1 record with wins over Chicago State (3-0) and Furman (3-0). Iowa lost to Eastern Washington (3-1). Setter Justeen Patton and outside hitter Stacy Vitali made the all-tournament team for Iowa. Pam Kavadas is now 7th on the all-time digs list with 1,184.
The Wolverines: When Michigan posted a 20-12 record in 2003, it was the sixth time in school history a team had cracked the 20-win category. With six starters returning, there’s a good chance Coach Mark Rosen’s squad will do it again in 2004. Three sophomores and three seniors from last year’s NCAA second-round squad are back. That includes setter Lisa Gamalski who had 12.39 assists per game and 1.30 kills in 2003. Senior outside hitter Jennifer Gandolph led Michigan last year with 3.84 kills per game. Two freshmen have stepped up this year for Michigan. Katie Bruzdzinski, a 6-0 outside hitter, has averaged 2.07 kills and 1.86 digs in 29 games. She also leads the Wolverines with 13 ace serves. Middle blocker Lyndsay Miller has averaged 2.48 kills and 1.39 blocks per game.
Iowa-Michigan Series: Iowa leads the series 24-21. The last meeting was a 3-0 win for Michigan at Ann Arbor. The last Iowa win came in 2001.
The Spartans: Head Coach Chuck Erbe is in his 12th year at Michigan State and hopes to lead his squad to another NCAA tournament berth. The 2003 Spartans posted a 19-12 record. Four starters return for Michigan State. Leading the attack will be 6-2 outside hitter Kim Schram. Schram averaged 4.81 kills per game and a .277 hitting average. Megan Wallin, a 6-3 junior, averaged 2.81 kills per game and led the team with 0.87 blocks per game. Freshman Maggie Griffin has earned the starting setter position. Through 30 games she has averaged 12.43 assists per game, 2.10 digs per game, and has seven service aces.
Iowa-Michigan State Series: The Spartans lead the series 25-21. Michigan State defeated Iowa in their two meetings last season. Iowa’s last win over Michigan State was in 2000.
In Fredrick’s words: “We’re excited to start the Big Ten season. There is nothing better than being the underdog. We are the team that everyone thinks they’re going to beat and we’ll take some serious lumps. But we are going to hand out some losses too. We’re going to surprise a couple of people. If any teams give us any room, we’ll take it.”