Oct. 20, 2006
IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa volleyball team was downed by the 17th-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers, 3-0, Friday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa (12-9, 1-8) was defeated by scores of 30-19, 30-23 and 30-24.
“Considering they are the 17th ranked team in the country and in second place in the Big Ten, we knew it was going to be a tough match,” Iowa Head Coach Cindy Fredrick said.
Minnesota pressured Iowa with a relentless attack, out-hitting the Hawkeyes .331 to .123, and had three players with 12 or more kills. Catherine Smale and Megan Schipper led the attack for Iowa with seven kills each. Schipper also added a team-high 12 digs.
Freshman Christina Meister split time with sophomore Kiley Fister, getting her first extensive action at setter. Fister ended with 14 assists, while Meister had 13.
Minnesota led from the opening gun in game one, using five service aces to help take the 30-19 win. The Hawkeyes were able to keep things relatively close and cut the lead to 20-17 before Minnesota went on a six-point run to put the game out of reach.
Game two was another wire-to-wire win for the Gophers, who jumped out to an immediate 5-1 lead, then gradually stretched it through the game. Seven of Jessy Jones’s match-high 17 kills came in game two.
In game three, the Gophers looked to sprint to the finish before Iowa came clawing back to take its first lead of the match at 16-15. It was short-lived, however, as took the next two points to re-claim the lead. Iowa tied things up again at 17-17, but it was as close as they would get. The Golden Gophers took 10-of-the-next-12 points to seal the win.
Iowa returns to action tomorrow night when it hosts No. 11 Wisconsin. First serve is set for 7 p.m. in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
MATCH SUMMARYMinnesota 30 30 30IOWA 19 23 24