Aug. 29, 2006
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This Week ? The University of Iowa volleyball team will hit the road for the first time this season when it heads to Omaha, NE, for the Bluejay Invitational at Creighton University.
Iowa’s first action will be a game against North Dakota State Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Hawkeyes will then play Jacksonville State Saturday at 9:30 a.m., then return to the court at 7 p.m. to face Creighton.
Hawkeyes on the Web ? If you can’t make the trip to Omaha this weekend, you can still follow all of the action on the internet. Livestats will be available at GoCreighton.com under the Live Stats link at the top of the page.
A live audio broadcast of Iowa’s Saturday night game with Creighton will be available at www.KVSS.com.
Web Conference ? Iowa Head Coach Cindy Fredrick will be hosting a weekly “Web Conference” every Tuesday this season.She will address a variety of topics, from the state of the team to that week’s opponents.
Hawkeye fans can get in on the act and ask Coach Fredrick questions of their own by emailing them to AskCoachFredrick@yahoo.com. The coach will answer as many fan questions as possible.
Last Week ? The Hawkeyes opened the 2006 season by hosting a trio of teams at the Hawkeye Challenge. Iowa swept Drake (30-25, 30-22, 30-22) and Chicago State (30-11, 30-16, 30-17), but fell to Iowa State (30-28, 30-26, 25-30, 22-30 and 5-15).
In game one, the Hawkeyes showed a little rust from the offseason – hitting just .049 for the game. Despite the low percentage, Iowa never trailed, allowing Drake just one tie (7-7). Sophomore outside hitter Catherine Smale had six of her 12 kills in the first game to lead Iowa.
The Hawkeyes came out firing in game two, hitting .303 as a team. The two teams remained neck-and-neck until three-straight Drake errors gave Iowa a lead it would never relinquish. The Bulldogs attempted to close the gap down the stretch, cutting the lead to 24-21 at one point, but the Hawkeyes finished with five straight points before taking the win on a Drake service error.
In game three, Iowa left no doubt from the mid-point on, using a combination of a pounding attack and Drake miscues to salt the match away.
Against Chicago State, the Hawkeyes dominated from the moment game one started, never trailing the entire match. In fact, the Cougars tied the score just twice, once in game two (1-1) and once in game three (4-4).
Against Iowa State Saturday night, the Hawkeyes gave the fans a lot to cheer about early, taking the first two games and putting visions of a sweep in the minds of the Black and Gold fans.
Iowa State had other plans, however, and battled back to take the next two games and force a decisive game five. The Cyclones left no doubt in the final game, jumping out to an early lead and coasting to the win.
That’s a New Hawkeye Record ? A record crowd of 1,690 Hawkeye fans turned out in North Carver Saturday night to see Iowa battle Iowa State. The previous record was 1,223 fans during the November 5, 2005, game with Ohio State.
All-Tournament Team ? The Hawkeyes had three members of the all-tournament team at last weekend’s Hawkeye Challenge. Senior middle hitters Melanie Meister and Jen Barcus, along with sophomore setter Kiley Fister were named to the all-tournament team. Drake’s Liz McNulty, and Iowa State’s Erin Boeve and Katie Churm were also named to the team, while Iowa State’s Katie Jessen was tournament MVP.
Scouting North Dakota State ? The North Dakota State Bison enter the weekend with a 1-3 record. The Bison lost to South Dakota State, Washington State and Weber State, and defeated Gonzaga.
The offense is led by Sheila Parrish and Lindsay Rogers. Parrish is averaging 3.88 kills per game, while Rogers is averaging 3.06 kills per game.
Mattie Johnson serves as the Bison’s primary setter and averages 10.71 assists per game. Kari Fagnan is the team’s libero, and averages 4.35 digs per game.
North Dakota State is coached by Erich Hinterstocker, who is in his first season. This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
Scouting Jacksonville State ? The Jacksonville State Gamecocks are a perfect 3-0 on the year. They are the defending Ohio Valley Conference Champions and coming off the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance.
The offense is led by honorable mention all-American Abbey Breit, who is pounding out 5.82 kills per game with a .361 attack percentage. Freshman Brittney Whitten is second on the team with 4.09 kills per game.
Junior Emily Withers runs the offense and has put up 14.00 assists per game this season.
Jacksonville State is coached by Rick Nold, who is in his fifth season. This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
Scouting Creighton ? The Creighton Bluejays are 3-0 on the year, having won the Holiday Inn Classic at Montana State.
Sophomore middle blocker Amanda Cvejdlik leads the way with 4.22 kills per game, while junior Abby Baumann has 3.89 kills per game and a .400 attack percentage.
Korie Lebeda serves as the team’s primary setter and is averaging 14.00 assists per game.
The Bluejays are coached by Kirsten Bernthal Booth, who is in her fourth season. Creighton has won the only meeting between the two schools (3-0, 9/14/04).
Making a Big First Impression ? Hawkeye freshman hitter Megan Schipper knows how to make a dramatic entrance. With the Hawkeyes holding match point at 29-22 against Drake Friday, the freshman closed things out with her first career kill – on what was the Aplington, IA, native’s first career attempt.
Meister Mashes ? Senior middle blocker Melanie Meister busted out of the gates with a vengeance for her last year in the Black and Gold. In three matches over the weekend, she recorded a team-best 33 kills (3.30 per game) and hit at a .355 clip. On defense, she recorded 13 blocks (three solo, 10 assist).
Smith Shines ? Freshman Allison Smith impressed in her first action last weekend. She saw the court in six games, recording ten kills and a .471 attack percentage.
We Go WAY Back ? A few Hawkeyes knew each other way before they got to Iowa City. Stacy Vitali, Catherine Smale and Kiley Fister all hail from the same hometown, St. Charles, IL, while Melanie and Christina Meister are sisters.
Smale Succeeds ? Catherine Smale, an outside hitter, was the first Hawkeye to be named to the Big Ten all-freshman team last year. She ended with a team-best 3.61 kills per game average, and also averaged 2.56 digs per game on the defensive end.
Already No. 6 ? Sophomore setter Kiley Fister is already among the all-time leaders at Iowa in assists. She has 1,389, good for sixth on the Hawkeyes’ all-time list. Jitka Stehnova (2002-03) is in fifth with 2,159.
Janet Moylan (1987-90) is Iowa’s all-time leader with 5,471.
Take Me To Your Leader ? Senior middle blocker Melanie Meister and sophomore libero Emily Hiza 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 Katie McGuine joining the team as the Director of Volleyball Operations.
McGuine will work closely with the Hawkeye volleyball staff, helping coordinate and carry out the day-to-day activities in the program.
McGuine joins the Hawkeyes after serving as the Human Resources Manager at Cardinal of Minnesota, Ltd., in Rochester, MN. She also served as head volleyball coach at Pine Island High School during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. In 2005 and 2006 she was head coach of the 16s Southern Minnesota Volleyball Club in Rochester, MN.