Oct. 3, 2005
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This Week ? The University of Iowa volleyball team will play a pair of Big Ten road games this week, traveling to Minnesota Wednesday to take on the ninth-ranked Golden Gophers, then heading to Bloomington, IN, for a Saturday match with the Hoosiers. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m.
Hawkeyes on the Web ? If you can’t follow the Hawkeyes to Minnesota and Indiana, you can still follow all of the action on www.hawkeyesports.com, where live stats will be available for every home game this season. Just click on the “gametracker” link on the schedule page.
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.
Earlier This Week ? The Hawkeyes had an up and down week, topping their biggest in-state rival Northern Iowa 3-2, before dropping a pair of conference games to Michigan (3-1) and Michigan State (3-2).
Against UNI, the Hawkeyes took the dramatic match by scores of 30-28, 26-30, 30-25, 24-30, 20-18.
Catherine Smale led the attack with 20 kills. She also added 17 digs.
After splitting the first four games, the teams played a very dramatic deciding fifth game. UNI came out of the gates swinging and took an early 7-3 lead. The Hawkeyes came storming back behind the serving of freshman libero Emily Hiza to tie the game at 7-7. From that point on, the two teams traded points the rest of the way, with neither team taking more than a two-point lead.
Iowa was the first team to serve a match point at 14-13, but UNI came back to tie things up. The Hawkeyes then faced elimination three times against a UNI serve, turning them back each time. With the game tied at 18-18, Iowa closed the door with back-to-back kills from Stacy Vitali and Smale.
On Friday against Michigan, the Hawkeye attack struggled against the Wolverine defense. Iowa dropped game one, then came back to take the second game 30-26.
Michigan controlled things the rest of the way, taking games three and four to win the match.
Against the Spartans on Saturday, the Hawkeyes began their furious comeback in game three, jumping out to an early 4-1 lead. Michigan State pulled back into the game, but Iowa then ripped off eight consecutive points to take a 19-9 lead behind the serving of Smale.
The Spartans wouldn’t go quietly, and came right back with eight-straight points of their own to make the score 19-17. Iowa ended the run with a kill by Megan Gatens, then held on for the 30-27 win. The Hawkeyes took that momentum into game four, racing to a 10-2 lead out of the gates. Michigan State managed to bring the game within a point at 18-17, but Iowa continued their strong play and took a 30-24 victory to force a deciding game five.
In the fifth game, the team’s traded points throughout the first half and traded sides with Iowa holding a 8-7 lead. The Spartans then scored four straight and took a lead they would not relinquish. The Hawkeyes managed to fight off three match points before finally falling 15-12.
On the Road Again ? So far this season, Iowa has played 12-of-17 games on the road. The Hawkeyes have an 8-4 record away from Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The team’s next four games will be on the road.
Scouting Minnesota ? The Minnesota Golden Gophers are 13-2 with a 3-1 record in the Big Ten. They are ranked ninth by the AVCA.
Minnesota’s only two losses this season have come at the hands of No. 1 Nebraska and No. 10 Wisconsin.
The Golden Gophers have a nasty one-two punch at middle blocker with preseason all-Big Ten selection Meredith Nelson and Jessy Jones. Nelson leads the team with 151 kills and is hitting at a .343 clip. Jones has 127 kills and a .335 hitting percentage. Both are averaging 1.23 blocks per game.
Distributing the ball through the offense is 2004 first team all-American setter Kelly Bowman, who has 424 assists on the year.
Minnesota leads the all-time series 45-12, and is currently riding a 19-match winning streak over the Hawkeyes.
The Golden Gophers are coached by Mike Hebert, who is in his tenth season at the helm.
Scouting Indiana ? The Indiana Hoosiers are 8-8 on the season with a 1-3 mark in the Big Ten Conference.
The offense is led by freshman outside hitter Erica Short, who is fifth in the conference with 3.97 kills per game. Rachel Gerling leads the Big Ten in service aces with 40.
On defense, Annie Moddrell leads the Big Ten in blocks with 1.66 per game.
The Hoosiers lead the all-time series 29-21 and hold a 15-8 advantage in games played in Bloomington. The two teams split a pair of games last year.
Indiana is coached by Katie Weismiller, who is in her 13th season.
Mess Around and Get a Triple Double ? Freshman setter Kiley Fister became the first Hawkeye since 2000 to record a triple double when she pulled the feat against UNI. The St. Charles, IL, native had 53 assists, 11 kills and 10 digs.
The last Hawkeye to record a triple double was Fabiana de Abreu, who is now an assistant coach at Texas-Pan American.
One More Monkey Off Their Backs ? Iowa’s 3-2 win over Northern Iowa Tuesday night broke a 15-year, ten-match winning streak held by the Panthers. The last time Iowa had beaten UNI was September 8, 1989 in the Carousel All-Iowa Classic.
Already Better Than Last Year ? The Hawkeyes’ win over Northern Iowa Tuesday was their 11th of the season, giving them one more win than they had all of last year. Iowa was 10-22 with a 2-18 record in Head Coach Cindy Fredrick’s first season.
Moving Up the Charts ? Freshman Catherine Smale moved up to eighth on the Big Ten kills list, averaging 3.75 a game.
Offense and Defense ? Junior outside hitter Tiana Costanzo is a dual threat for the Hawkeyes who doesn’t leave the court often during the course of a game. She is third on the team with 176 kills and second with 204 digs.
Go-to Hitter ? Outside hitter Catherine Smale’s 57 attempts against Michigan was the second-most in a four-game match in the Big Ten this season. Penn State’s Nicole Fawcett had 60 attempts in a 3-1 win over USC.
Freshman Digger ? Freshman libero Emily Hiza leads the team with 244 digs. That total is good for fifth in the Big Ten.
Big Ten Killers ? Sophomore outside hitter Stacy Vitali and freshman Catherine Smale are both ranked in the top ten for kills during conference play. Smale is fifth with 4.27 per game, while Vitali is eighth with 3.53 per game.
Coming Up Aces ? Four players on this year’s team have 15 or more service aces so far. Emily Hiza leads the way with 17, Kiley Fister has 16, while Catherine Smale and Tiana Costanzo each have 15.
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.