Iowa's Slide Continues in Loss to MSU

Nov. 12, 2004

Final Stats

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Iowa (9-18, 1-14) was anxious to break their 13-game losing streak against Michigan State (11-12, 6-9) in volleyball action tonight. After all, the Hawkeyes only victory in the Big Ten conference came this year against the Spartans in Iowa City. But, Michigan State had different plans and revenged their loss to Iowa with a decisive three-game sweep (30-25, 31-29, 30-28) in front of 1,358 fans.

Game one’s score seesawed back and forth when the Spartans went on a small run to lead 17-14. Later, an outside hit by Jacqueline Huguelet gave Iowa the sideout, bringing the Hawkeyes to within two points, 19-17. Tiana Costanzo was serving 21-19 when an attempt by Carolyn Giese just went long. A net violation on the Spartans gave Iowa the serve 24-22, but the Spartans went on to win the game, 30-25, on an errant serve by Huguelet.

Iowa was led by Huguelet with five kills and one service ace in the first game. Laura Simpson and Giese each had four kills. Neither team had a block in game one.

Miscommunication by the Spartans tied the game at 6-6 early on in the second game. Later, after an Iowa timeout, Giese and Justeen Patton teamed up for a block to bring the Hawks within three, 11-8. Tiana Costanzo had a giant solo block to cut the Michigan State lead to one, 20-19, and just a few points later Spartan Coach Chuck Erbe called a timeout after Iowa tied the score, 23-23. Another Spartan hitting error tied the game at 26-26, and a kill by Costanzo put the Hawks up 27-26. Giese and Chelsey Garrett combined for a block to put Iowa up 28-26, but consecutive errors on the Hawkeyes made it 28-28. Giese earned a block to give the Hawks a sideout and knotted the score, 29-29, but successive kills by Michelle Kopka and Katie Johnson gave Michigan State the 31-29 victory.

Both teams stepped up the effort at the net; Iowa had four blocks in game two compared to five by Michigan State. Huguelet and Giese had four and three kills, respectively. Pam Kavadas had seven digs in the game.

After leading 5-3, a several errors by the Hawkeyes helped Michigan State to a 7-5 lead in the third game. Following a long volley, Patton found Costanzo on the outside for a kill and a solo block by Simpson made it just a two-point game, 9-7. Michigan State was up 17-12 when Costanzo earned another kill to make it 17-13. Later, Stacy Vitali picked up a kill and Lauren Bruckner followed with an ace to make it just a four-point Spartan lead, 24-20. Iowa clawed their way back into the game, and trailed just 27-26, when Iowa was called for an illegal hit at the net. Diana Steplyk was serving for match point, 29-26, when her serve went sailing into the net. Giese earned a kill to make it 30-28, but Kim Schram found a spot for a tip the Spartans won 30-28.

Carolyn Giese and Jacqueline Huguelet each had 11 kills to lead Iowa. Stacy Vitali and Tiana Costanzo were next with eight kills apiece. Justeen Patton was credited with 36 assists and five digs. Pam Kavadas led all players with 21 digs.

“I was happy with Chelsey Garrett, Stacy Vitali, and Laura Simpson. They all had decent performances, and I give them a lot of credit since they haven’t had much time on the court lately. Tiana Costanzo did a great job, as did Pam Kavadas digging in the back row. Jacque Huguelet and Carolyn Giese also hit well for us,” said Iowa Coach Cindy Fredrick.

The Hawkeyes hit .207 on the match compared to a .280 attacking percentage by the Spartans. Michigan State had seven blocks to just five by Iowa. The Spartans struggled with serving, committing 11 errors to just six serving errors by the Hawkeyes.

“It is very disappointing, because Michigan State is not better than we are. We continue to have mistakes at bad times and that’s often the difference in a match. We kill ourselves when we do things that hurt our momentum,” said Fredrick. “We’re lacking a killer instinct right now. We had a great opportunity in game two, and had we capitalized on it, it could have changed the match.”

Fredrick also pointed out that Spartan hitter Kim Schram’s 28-kill performance was a big part of the loss. “The first time we played them, we kept Schram to a reasonable amount of kills. Tonight she simply controlled the match,” said Fredrick.

Iowa will face Michigan tomorrow in Ann Arbor. The match is slated to begin at 6 p.m. CST. The Wolverines defeated the Hawkeyes earlier this year in Iowa City, 3-0.