Nov. 13, 2004
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The Iowa volleyball team is back to square one after facing Michigan to start the conference season on September 24. The Hawkeyes, looking to halt their 14-game losing streak, weren’t able to avenge their early season loss and fell again in three games to the Wolverines (30-22, 30-19, 30-22).
Game one was tightly contested with several ties in the first few minutes of play. A well-placed tip by Laura Simpson tied the game up at eight apiece, but after Michigan rattled off five straight points to lead 13-8, Iowa Coach Cindy Fredrick was forced to call a timeout. Later, the Hawkeyes took advantage of a blocking error to pull within three points, 14-11, but the Wolverines responded with a kill to earn a sideout. Carolyn Giese halted another Michigan run with a quick tip to make the score 17-12, but again the home team replied with a kill. Down 26-18, the Hawkeyes rallied back to 27-22, but it was too late to stop the Wolverines, who went on to win 30-22.
Jacqueline Huguelet and Carolyn Giese each had four kills in game one. Huguelet hit at a .333 clip and had six digs to lead Iowa. The Hawkeyes hit just .102 compared to a .320 attacking percentage by Michigan. Iowa didn’t have any blocks to Michigan’s three stuffs.
Trailing 7-4 in game two, Tiana Costanzo came up with a kill on the outside to earn a point for the Hawks. A service error, followed by a receiving mistake on the Wolverines tied the score, 8-8. Justeen Patton found Giese for a kill to make the score just 14-11 in Michigan’s favor, but on the ensuing rally the Hawks were called for a net violation. Laura Simpson went behind the line to serve at the 24-17 mark, and then served an ace to make it 24-15. Later, the Wolverines went up 29-19 on an attacking error by Stacy Vitali and closed out the game 30-19 on a kill by Erin Cobbler.
Giese and Costanzo had three and four kills, respectively, for Iowa. However, the Hawkeyes continued to struggle in attacking efficiency. They only had a .082 hitting percentage in the game two loss; Michigan hit at a .400 clip.
Michigan controlled all aspects of the third game. Alicia Boswell’s service ace put Michigan up 19-13. Later, Iowa’s Simpson and Patton hooked up for a kill to make it 23-16, but Michigan was just too much for Iowa to handle as they went on to win 30-22.
Jacqueline Huguelet led Iowa with 11 kills, and Tiana Costanzo and Carolyn Giese each chipped in eight. Justeen Patton had 25 assists and ten digs. Pam Kavadas dug up 14 attempts on the night.
Iowa hit only .021 in the third game for a total attacking percentage of .061. The Hawkeyes had just two blocks compared to Michigan’s 11.
“Tonight I thought we did some good things, but the problem is that we are just so up and down. We play with teams for a while and then we have a breakdown,” said Fredrick. “We are doing the best that we can with what we have and the kids are playing their hardest.”
Iowa will host Indiana this Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. On Sunday, the Hawkeyes Iowa will host Purdue at 2 p.m. The match against the Boilermakers will honor the four seniors on the team.