Nov. 4, 2005
EAST LANSING, MI – The University of Iowa volleyball team was defeated by Michigan State, 3-2, Friday night in East Lansing, MI. The Hawkeyes (14-12, 4-9) fell by scores of 30-28, 26-30, 22-30, 30-27 and 11-15.
Freshman outside hitter Catherine Smale had a double-double for the Hawkeyes, recording 18 kills and digs. Junior middle blocker Melanie Meister pounded out 11 kills and gathered nine blocks, while sophomore outside hitter Stacy Vitali had 12 kills.
On defense, freshman libero Emily Hiza had a team-high 26 digs.
Game one started as a back-and-forth affair until the Spartans began to pull away and eventually took a 24-17 lead. The Hawkeyes bounced back and rattled off ten-consecutive points to take a 27-24 lead. Iowa closed things out on a kill from Smale.
In games two and three, Iowa led just once (1-0 in game two), while Michigan State put the Hawkeyes against the wall with a pair of wins.
Iowa rebounded to take game in dramatic fashion. With the Spartans leading most of the way, the Hawkeyes staged a late rally with and forced a fifth game with the help of a pair of Meister kills.
In game five, Michigan State led from the outset and raced to a 15-11 win.
Iowa will return to action tomorrow night with a match against the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Game one will start at 5 p.m. (CST).
MATCH SUMMARYIOWA 30 26 22 30 11MSU 28 30 30 27 15