Sept. 30, 2006
CHAMPAIGN, IL – The University of Iowa volleyball team was defeated by the Illinois Fighting Illinis in four games Saturday night in Champaign, IL. The Hawkeyes fell by scores of 30-22, 30-24, 30-21 and 30-21.
Iowa falls to 11-5, 0-4 in Big Ten play. Illinois ups its record to 11-5 (2-2).
“I thought we played better tonight, but we still let a lot of opportunities get by,” Iowa Head Coach Cindy Fredrick said. “It was really good to see Megan Schipper play well. She gave us a nice little spark.”
Schipper ended the game with eight kills. Catherine Smale led the team with 21 kills and added 11 digs. Libero Emily Hiza added 22 digs.
In game one, Iowa kept things tight early, and tied the game up at 16-16 after back-to-back kills from Smale and Allison Smith and an Illinois attack error. The Fighting Illini bounced back and began to pull away with a five-point run. A kill from Kayani Turner ended the game a 30-22.
The Hawkeyes jumped out to an early lead in game two, only to have Illinois come back and tie things up at 19-19. Iowa responded right away and re-took its lead behind a Melanie Meister kill. The Hawkeyes never looked back, and Smale pounded out Iowa’s last three points for the 30-24 win. She had a team-high nine kills in the game.
The Illini came storming back in game three, trailing only after giving the Hawkeyes a 1-0 lead on a service error. Iowa managed to cut the lead to 12-11 with a Kiley Fister ace, but could get no closer and fell 30-21.
The Hawkeyes got into a hole early in game four when the Fighting Illini jumped out to a 7-2 lead and forced Iowa into a timeout. It didn’t get any easier for the Black and Gold the rest of the way, as Illinois cruised to the win and took the match.
Iowa returns to action next weekend with a homestand against Indiana and Purdue. The Hawkeyes will battle the Hoosiers Friday at 7 p.m., then take on the Boilermakers Saturday at 7 p.m.
MATCH SUMMARYIOWA 22 30 21 21Illinois 30 24 30 30