Sept. 7, 2005
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This Week ? The University of Iowa volleyball team will head south for the UTA Invitational, hosted by the University of Texas-Arlington.
Iowa will play four games, opening with Arkansas-Little Rock Friday at 11 a.m., then taking on the host Mavericks at 7 p.m. On Saturday, the Hawkeyes will battle Texas-Pan American at noon and Wake Forest at 5 p.m.
Weekly Press Conference ? Each week, Head Coach Cindy Fredrick will host a weekly press conference Tuesday from 11:45-12:15 p.m. at the Iowa Football Complex. The press conference precedes Iowa Head Football Coach Kirk Ferentz’s weekly press gathering.
Last Week ? The Hawkeyes continued their solid start to the 2005 campaign, going 2-1 at the Marquette Challenge to raise their record to 4-1 on the year.
Iowa suffered its first loss of the season in the first game of the weekend, dropping a four-game match to the host Golden Eagles. The Hawkeyes dropped the first two games 26-30 and 22-30 before rebounding to take game three 30-23. Marquette closed things out in game four with a 30-21 win.
The Hawkeyes fared better Saturday, sweeping New Hampshire (30-24, 30-27, 30-22) and winning a five-game match against IUPUI (23-30, 30-18, 25-30, 30-21, 15-10).
Freshman Kiley Fister impressed against New Hampshire, dishing out 31 assists and hitting at a .857 clip. Sophomore Stacy Vitali led the attack with 10 kills.
Against IUPUI, freshman Catherine Smale pounded out 22 kills and hit at a .283 clip. Junior middle hitter Melanie Meister had 14 kills and a .333 attack percentage, while Vitali chipped in 15 kills in the five-game match.
All Tournament Team ? The Hawkeyes had a pair of players named to the Marquette Challenge all-tournament team last weekend. Stacy Vitali was named to the squad after recording 36 kills and a .302 attack percentage over the weekend, while Melanie Meister had 32 kills and hit at a .240 clip.
Vitali was also named to the Hawkeye-Holiday Inn Challenge all-tournament team earlier this year.
Scouting Arkansas-Little Rock ? The Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans come into the weekend with a 4-4 record. Last weekend they went 3-1 at the Memphis Invitational, defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Tennessee-Martin and Alabama A&M before losing to Memphis.
The Trojan attack is led by Ana Carolin Buccini and Ivanka Davidova. Buccini is a junior outside hitter that was a second team all-Sun Belt Conference pick last season. This year, she has 76 kills and 12 service aces. Davidova, a sophomore middle blocker, has 69 kills and a team-best .333 hitting percentage.
Arkansas-Little Rock is coached by Van Compton, who is in his 17th season.
This is the first meeting between the two teams.
Scouting Texas-Arlington ? The Texas-Arlington Mavericks are 1-4 on the year and have lost their last four after winning their season debut.
Sophomore Morgan Rogers leads the attack after earning honorable mention all-Southland Conference honors as a freshman. She comes into the weekend with 42 kills, 58 digs and a .276 attack percentage.
Texas-Arlington is coached by Diane Seymour, who is in her second season.
The series between Iowa and UTA is tied 1-1. The Hawkeyes won the last meeting, 3-0, on Sept. 4, 1998.
Scouting Texas-Pan American ? The Texas-Pan American Lady Broncos come into the tournament with a 1-6 record.
Heather Bravo leads the team with 61 kills. She was a second team all-Independant honoree last season.
Texas-Pan American is coached by Dave Thorn, who is in his eighth season.
Don’t I Know You? ? Former Hawkeye Fabiana de Abreu is in her fourth season as an assistant at Texas Pan-American. She was recently promoted to Associate Head Coach.
Scouting Wake Forest ? The Wake Forest Demon Deacons come into the weekend with a 1-2 record. They defeated Tennessee State in their season opener, then fell to Louisville and Ohio University.
The Deacs have really spread the ball around this season, with six players recording 12+ kills. Erin Bohart leads the way with 21. Christy Williams, a 2003 honorable mention all-American, has 17 kills.
Heather Kahl is in her first season as head coach at Wake Forest. She had been an assistant coach for five seasons before her promotion.
This is the first meeting between Iowa and Wake Forest.
Freshman Killer ? Freshman outside hitter Catherine Smale has been smashing balls all over the court, and she leads the team with 67 kills. She has recorded double-digits in kills in every match but one, and had a career-high 22 against IUPUI Saturday.
Set `em Up ? Freshman setter Kiley Fister set a career-high with 55 assists in Iowa’s match against IUPUI. Her previous best was 39 against Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the season opener.
Winning When it Counts ? The Hawkeyes have been to a decisive fifth game twice already this year, winning both. Last season, Iowa was 3-1 in five-game matches.
Patton Comes Up Big ? Senior setter Justeen Patton came up with some big serves in the deciding game five against IUPUI, including back-to-back aces that helped Iowa pull away and take the win.
Double Doubles ? Against IUPUI, two Hawkeye freshmen recorded double-doubles. Catherine Smale pounded out 22 kills and recorded 22 digs, while Kiley Fister had 55 assists and 15 digs. Smale also had a double-double against Marquette, recording 13 kills and 10 digs.
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.
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.