Aug. 29, 2005
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This Week ? The University of Iowa volleyball team will make its first road trip of the year, traveling to Milwaukee, WI, for the Marquette Challenge.
The Hawkeyes will battle the host Golden Eagles Friday night at 7 p.m., then take on New Hampshire Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and IUPUI at 4:30 p.m. All games will be held at the Al McGuire Center.
Weekly Press Conference ? Starting this week, Head Coach Cindy Fredrick will be hosting a weekly press conference Tuesdays from 11:45-12:15 p.m. at the Iowa Football Complex. The press conference will precede Iowa Head Football Coach Kirk Ferentz’s weekly press gathering.
Last Week ? The Hawkeyes opened the 2005 season in impressive fashion, winning the Hawkeye Holiday-Inn Challenge with a pair of wins over Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Drake.
Iowa came out firing in the first two games against Wisconsin-Milwaukee with convincing 30-17 and 30-18 wins. The Panthers wouldn’t go away, however, and rallied after the intermission to take the next two 30-19 and 30-23 and force the pivotal game five.
The Hawkeyes came out hungry in the final game, blowing the Panthers off the court 15-5 to take the match. Sophomore Stacy Vitali had a team-best 14 kills against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and hit at a .345 clip. Junior Tiana Costanzo added 13 kills, while Kiley Fister ended the match with 39 assists.
Against Drake, the Hawkeyes cruised to a comfortable three-game sweep by scores of 30-22, 30-18 and 30-20.
All Tournament Team ? The Hawkeyes had four players honored over the weekend, with freshmen Emily Hiza and Kiley Fister, and sophomore Stacy Vitali named to the all-tournament team. Junior Tiana Costanzo was named tournament MVP.
Scouting Marquette ? The Marquette Golden Eagles come into the second week of competition with a 2-1 record. Last weekend, they won the Holiday Inn Milwaukee Centre Volleyball Kick-off over Pacific, Virginia Commonwealth and North Dakota State. The Golden Eagles defeated North Dakota State (3-0) and Virginia Commonwealth (3-1) but fell to Pacific (1-3). Marquette returned four starters off last year’s team that had a school-best 22-7 record. They are led by outside hitter Theresa Coughlin, who earned tournament MVP honors at the Holiday Inn Milwaukee Center Volleyball Kick-off last weekend. She is No. 1 on the school’s all-time kills and attacks list.
Marquette is coached by Pati Rolf, who is in her fourth year. This will be the first meeting between the Hawkeyes and Golden Eagles.
Scouting New Hampshire ? The New Hampshire Wildcats are 0-3 on the season, dropping matches to San Fransisco (0-3), Delaware (2-3) and Pittsburgh (0-3) at the Delaware Tournament.
The Wildcats return four starters and nine letterwinners from last year?fs team that went 9-20.
Senior middle blocker Erin Walker captains the team after earning first team all-conference honors last year. She recorded a team-best 26 kills and seven blocks last weekend.
The Wiildcats are coached by Jill Hirschinger, who is in her tenth season at the helm. This will be the first meeting between Iowa and New Hampshire.
Scouting IUPUI ? The IUPUI Jaguars will see their first action of the 2005 season this weekend at Marquette. They return four starters off last years team that went 15-17.
Casey Chrzastowski leads the Jaguar attack, coming off a season in which she recorded 460 kills.
Head Coach Steve Payne is in his ninth season with IUPUI. This will be the first meeting between the two teams.
New Faces ? The Hawkeyes had a very different look from last season, with five players making their Iowa debut last weekend. Junior transfer Melanie Meister, along with freshmen Emily Hiza, Catherine Smale and Kiley Fister started all three matches for Iowa. Freshman Laura Gustin also saw her first action.
Multi-faceted Attack ? The Hawkeyes spread the ball around a lot this weekend, with four players recording double-digits in kills against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Stacy Vitali led the way with 14, while Tiana Costanzo had 13, Catherine Smale had 12 and Melanie Meister had 10.
Dishin’ Them Out ? Freshman Kiley Fister served as the Hawkeye setter for every game last weekend, and racked up an impressive 77 assists. She handed out 39 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and 38 versus Drake. She is averaging 9.62 assists per game.
A Pair of Aces ? Junior Tiana Costanzo and freshman Kiley Fister lead the team with five service aces each. Both had two against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and three against Drake.
Gatens Comes Up Clutch ? Sophomore middle hitter Megan Gatens came up with some big serves in the deciding game five against Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Iowa City native held served from the beginning of the match, getting the Hawkeyes out to a commanding 6-0 lead en route to the 15-5 win.
Saving the Best For Last ? The Hawkeyes came through under pressure against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, hitting at a .571 clip in the deciding game five.
Digstown ? Junior outside hitter Tiana Costanzo got down and dirty with the digs last weekend, leading the team with 40. Freshman libero Emily Hiza was second with 32.
Ranked Recruits ? The Hawkeye freshman class is one of the most accomplished recruiting classes Iowa has ever brought in, and they were ranked 30th in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com. It is the fifth-ranked class in the Big Ten behind Penn State (No. 2 nationally), Minnesota (No. 4), Purdue (No. 6) and Wisconsin (No. 17). Stanford has the nation’s top-ranked recruiting class.
The class consists of Laura Kremer, Catherine Smale, Kiley Fister, Emily Hiza, Felicia Booth, Laura Gustin and Mary Puck.
Prep All-Americans ? Three members of the Hawkeye freshman class were named high school all-Americans by PrepVolleyball.com. Kiley Fister, Catherine Smale and Emily Hiza were all honored by the website.
Mama I’m Comin’ Home ? After playing for two years at Cal-State Fullerton, Melanie Meister returns to her home state to compete for the Hawkeyes.
A West Des Moines native, Meister joined the Hawkeyes during the second semester last year and practiced with the team during the spring season.
Take Me To Your Leader ? Junior middle blocker Melanie Meister and junior outside hitter Tiana Costanzo are the Hawkeye captains this season.
The Assistant Coaches ? Dr. Mashallah (Farokh) Farokhmanesh and Chad Hanson will serve as assistants to Head Coach Cindy Fredrick again this season. Farokh, the associate head coach, is the husband of Coach Fredrick.
Welcome Aboard ? The Hawkeye coaching staff has a new addition this year with DeAnn Woodin joining up as the programs first Director of Volleyball Operations.
Woodin will work closely with the Hawkeye volleyball staff, helping coordinate and carry out the day-to-day activities in the program.
She joins the staff after a successful run as the head coach at Kirkwood Community College. In her two seasons at the helm, she led Kirkwood to a 81-25 record, two undefeated conference seasons and the school’s first-ever NJCAA Division II National Championship in 2003.