Oct. 29, 2004
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The Hawkeyes (9-14, 1-10) continued to struggle in Big Ten action as the Badgers (14-5, 8-3) picked up their sixth consecutive win tonight. Wisconsin swept the depleted Iowa team in three games (30-18, 30-17, 30-20).
Iowa played it close in the first game, with a kill by Megan Gatens giving the Hawks a slim 8-7 lead. The momentum shift was short-lived as the Hawks committed a service error, and the Badgers went on a three-point run to go up 11-8. Iowa came back when Meredith Stach found Jacqueline Huguelet for a kill to tie it up at 11. Wisconsin put the hammer down after that, and went on to win, 30-18.
The Hawks had a .000 hitting percentage in game with a total of only 11 kills. Gatens, Huguelet, and Tiana Costanzo each had two kills apiece. Iowa had no blocks compared to three by the Badgers. Both teams struggled behind the line with four service errors each.
The Badgers owned the second game, jumping out to a 7-1 lead. Carolyn Giese and Costanzo teamed up for a block to earn a side-out for Iowa to make the score 9-4, but Wisconsin got the ball right back on a kill by Aubrey Meierotto. Justeen Patton caught the Badgers off-guard with a tip to make it 20-6, but a service error sent the ball back to Wisconsin, who went on to win 30-17.
Huguelet had five kills for the Hawks in game two and hit for a .556 clip. Iowa improved their hitting percentage to .105 compared to Wisconsin’s .382 attacking percentage. The Badgers caught the Hawks sleeping for four service aces.
Game three was much like game two with Wisconsin taking a 6-1 advantage early on. Gatens slammed home a kill to give Iowa a side-out at 12-8, but the Badgers went on a four-point run to lead 16-8. The Hawks fought their way back into the game coming as close as 18-13, however, Marian Weidner halted the Hawks momentum with a kill down the line. Patton served an ace to bring Iowa within four points, 20-16, and later an attacking error on Wisconsin made it just 21-18. The Badgers went on to win 30-20.
Jacqueline Huguelet led Iowa with nine kills and Tiana Costanzo was next with six. Justeen Patton had 21 sets in the match and one service ace. Pam Kavadas had ten digs for the Hawks.
The Hawkeyes struggled hitting in the match with just a .027 attacking percentage. They connected for just 27 kills compared to 53 by Wisconsin. Iowa had 2.5 blocks to Wisconsin’s 8.5.
“We still have a lot of trouble with consistency. We’re not talking on the court enough and as a result we have a lot of unforced errors,” said Coach Cindy Fredrick. “We don’t take advantage of opportunities that are presented to us. It’s frustrating when we don’t take the things that we do in practice and transfer them to the matches.”
Iowa plays tomorrow night against Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois. The match against the Wildcats is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.