Sept. 2, 2005
MILWAUKEE, WI – The University of Iowa volleyball team was defeated by the Marquette Golden Eagles, 3-1, in its first game of the Marquette Challenge. The Hawkeyes (2-1) dropped the first two games by scores of 26-30 and 22-30 before rebounding to take game three 30-23. The Golden Eagles ended things with a 30-21 win in game four.
Freshman Catherine Smale was a bright spot for the Hawkeyes, recording a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs. Junior middle blocker Melanie Meister equaled Smale’s team-best 13 kills and added a trio of blocks.
The Hawkeyes struggled to find their rhythm in game one, falling into an early 6-2 hole to the Golden Eagles. Iowa found itself with its collective back against the wall, down 14-26, before embarking on a ferocious comeback. After cutting the score to 18-27, Iowa used a Meister block, a couple Marquette errors and a vicious kill by Smale to slice the lead to 23-27 and force the Golden Eagles into a timeout.
The two teams traded kills and attack errors to make the score 25-29 before a Meister kill cut the lead to three. But it was all the Hawkeyes could muster as Marquette managed a kill on the next series to end the game.
In game two, Iowa came out firing and took a 6-3 lead on a Kiley Fister ace. Marquette then came back and evened the score at 11-11 before beginning to pull away.
The Hawkeyes pulled things together for game three, hitting .333 as a team with Smale leading the way at .500. Iowa also posted six blocks. With the Hawkeyes leading 29-22, Marquette threatened a comeback with back-to-back kills before a Smale kill sealed the win for Iowa.
Marquette controlled game four from the outset, hitting at a robust .436 clip.
The Hawkeyes return to action tomorrow with a pair of games. Iowa will take on New Hampshire at 10:30 a.m. before battling IUPUI at 4:30 p.m.
MATCH SUMMARYIOWA 26 22 30 21Marquette 30 30 23 30