Oct. 21, 2006
IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa volleyball team was defeated by the No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers, 3-1, Saturday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa hung tough against the Badgers, splitting the first two games 19-30 and 30-26, but dropped the last two 30-24 and 30-21.
The Hawkeyes fall to 12-10 on the year with a 1-9 mark in the conference. Wisconsin ups its record to 15-5 (7-3).
“We’re getting tired of being the bridesmaid – staying close but not winning,” Iowa Head Coach Cindy Fredrick said. “Tonight, we just had too many attack errors. That is the name of the game right there.”
Iowa hit .116 on the night with 34 errors. Wisconsin hit .242 with 28 errors.
Individually, sophomore outside hitter Catherine Smale led the team with 15 kills. She also added 18 digs. Melanie Meister had 10 kills, seven blocks and six digs, while Stacey Vitali had her best game of the year with 11 kills and four blocks.
Sophomore setter Kiley Fister put up 30 assists, while freshman Christina Meister recorded 15. Sophomore libero Emily Hiza had a team-high 21 digs.
It looked to be another tough night for the Hawkeyes early, when Wisconsin controlled game one from the outset and cruised to a 30-19 win. But Iowa came storming back in game two to even the match at 1-1.
Iowa out-blocked Wisconsin 7-4 in the game, while Smale had four kills and hit at a .500 clip. The Hawkeyes took a 4-3 lead on a Badger attack error, and never looked back. Iowa ripped off seven-consecutive points during the match, taking their biggest lead at 19-10. Wisconsin did what it could to get back in the game, but the Hawkeyes had an answer for every rally and a Vitali kill ended things at 30-26.
Game three was a close one, with Wisconsin having to fend off a hungry Iowa team most of the way. A Smale kill cut the lead to two at 18-16, but the Badgers heated up and stretched their lead to nine at 28-19. Iowa wouldn’t go quietly, and scored three-straight to force Wisconsin into a timeout. The Badgers came out of the break rejuvenated, and closed out the game, 30-24.
In game four, Iowa jumped out to a 16-10 lead, but Wisconsin took advantage of 11 Hawkeye attack errors and outscored Iowa 20-5 to end the game and take the match.
Iowa returns to action next weekend with road games at Purdue (Fri., 7 p.m.) and Indiana (Sat., 7 p.m.)
MATCH SUMMARYWisconsin 30 26 30 30IOWA 19 30 24 21