Oct. 14, 2006
IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa volleyball team was swept by the Michigan State Spartans, 30-21, 30-20 and 30-25, Saturday night in East Lansing, MI. Iowa falls to 12-8 and has a 1-7 mark in the Big Ten.
Megan Schipper and Catherine Smale each had seven kills for the Hawkeyes, while libero Emily Hiza led the team with seven digs.
The Spartans led from wire-to-wire in the opening game, taking the first three points and never looking back. Michigan State hit a blistering .417 in the game. The highlight for Iowa was the play of Schipper, who had five kills and a .500 attack percentage in the game.
In game two, Michigan State once again jumped out to an early lead and held on throughout the game. Iowa managed to close within one at 9-8 on a Spartan attack error, but it was as close as the Hawkeyes would come. Iowa did manage to fight off a trio of game points before succumbing 30-20.
The Hawkeyes started off in a hole early in game three, as the team was penalized two points for delay of game when the team was late getting out of their lockerroom after intermission. The Spartans looked to run away with game three early, but the Hawkeyes clawed their way back into the game. A block from Jen Barcus and Kiley Fister cut the lead to 18-17 and forced a Michigan State timeout.
Iowa brought the game to within one again at 21-20, but the Spartans responded with four-straight points. The Hawkeyes would come back again to cut the lead to 25-24, but once again Michigan State responded by fending Iowa off. A Spartan kill ended the match with a 30-25 game three win.
The Hawkeyes return to action next weekend with a pair of home games against Minnesota (Fri., 7 p.m.) and Wisconsin (Sat., 7 p.m.).
MATCH SUMMARYIOWA 21 20 25Michigan State 30 30 30