Sept. 7, 2004
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NORMAL, IL – Tonight the Fredrick era began as Iowa took on Wright State in the Barker GMC Classic. Despite a rocky start in game one, the new era started with a notch in the win column after the Hawkeyes battled back to take the match in five games. The Raiders of Dayton, OH, took the momentum in game one and rolled with it to an early 14-7 lead. Later, Iowa began to claw their way back with several kills on tips and off-speed shots while at the same time taking advantage of six serving errors by Wright State. Iowa’s big guns still came out when needed as senior Laura Simpson smashed one down the line to bring Iowa within one point, 29-28. However, the Raiders managed to escape with the 30-28 victory on a kill by outside hitter Sarah Poling. With the score knotted at eleven points each in the second game, Iowa committed two costly hitting errors which lead to back and forth scoring. Wright State then took advantage of a young Hawkeye rotation that included three sophomores and one freshman to take a 23-18 lead. With Jacqueline Huguelet behind the line, Iowa began a late surge and pulled to within one point, 24-23. Senior Carolyn Giese tied it up 24 with a kill and the Hawkeyes pull away on several hitting errors by the Raiders. Iowa earned the 30-25 victory on another attacking mistake by Wright State. After a short intermission, the Hawkeyes came out firing in the third game to take a commanding 13-5 lead. Iowa dominated the game in all aspects, including a triple block that lead to a kill by freshman Megan Gatens put Iowa on top, 19-10. Several errors forced Wright State head coach Jolynn Tracy to call a time-out with Iowa ahead 24-14, but it wouldn’t change the outcome. With Giese behind the line, the Hawkeyes won their second game in a row on a Raider hitting error, this time with a score of 30-18. In the fourth game of the match, it was Iowa that struggled in the error column. The Raiders took advantage of Hawkeye miscues to take a 15-7 lead. Just a moment later that lead jumped up to 20-8 after an ace by Becky Lowery and several more mistakes by Iowa. The Hawkeyes managed to string a few points together late in the game, including a kill by Gatens that was immediately followed by a Simpson tip to make it 25-19. Further in the game, a kill by freshman Stacy Vitali was followed by a block by Giese in the middle to put the Raiders ahead 28-25. Wright State eventually got the 30-27 victory on a hit by Vanessa Voreis that snuck through an Iowa block and landed just inside the court. In the fifth game, with the score tied 3-3, Garrett served three points in a row to put Iowa on top 6-3. Later a service ace by the Raiders’ Sarah Poling tied the game at seven and a hitting error by Iowa gave the Raiders a one point advantage. With Iowa clinging to a 12-11 lead, seniors Giese and Simpson each connected for kills. The Hawkeyes won the match and the game, 15-11, on a double block by Huguelet and Giese. After starting with a team hitting percentage of .205, Wright State ended the match hitting with .081 percentage overall. The Hawkeyes hit .152 as a team with their best performance in game three in which they had an attack efficiency of .227. Both squads struggled behind the line with the Raiders committing 14 service errors compared to nine by the Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes also outmatched their opponents at the net coming up with 15 team blocks to Wright State’s three. Three Hawkeyes ended the match with double figures in kills. Simpson picked up where she left off last year, leading Iowa with 17 kills. Costanzo had 14 kills in 34 attempts for a .353 hitting percentage. Giese followed with 12 kills and just three errors to hit at a .375 clip. Garrett was credited with 52 assists in the match and also contributed two service aces. Kavadas had 25 digs at the libero position and Huguelet also had 19 digs. The Hawkeyes will play two more matches in the Barker GMC Classic tomorrow. They face Denver at 10 a.m. and host school Illinois State at 7 p.m. Next weekend, Iowa will travel down to Beaumont, TX, and the Lamar University Cardinal Classic.