Sept. 5, 2007
IOWA CITY – This Week ? The University of Iowa volleyball team travels to Des Moines this weekend to compete in the Drake Classic. The Hawkeyes open the tournament against host school Drake Friday at 7:30 p.m. Iowa concludes the tournament Saturday against Iowa State at 12:30 p.m. and 21st-ranked LSU at 5:30 p.m.
Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series ? Saturday’s match against Iowa State will be the second event in the 2007-08 Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk series.
Iowa State took an early 2-0 lead in this year’s series with a first place finish at the men’s golf Big Four Championships in Cedar Rapids Tuesday.
Iowa won the innagural event in 2004-05 along with last year’s competition.
Hawkeyes on the Web ? Fans can follow all of the action from the Drake Classic this weekend on hawkeyesports.com, where a live audio broadcast will be available. Gametracker will not be available for the Drake Classic matches.
Play-by-play from the voice of Iowa volleyball Brian Wilson can be found on the volleyball schedule page of hawkeyesports.com.
Live audio will be available for all 31 matches this fall.
Web Conference ? Iowa Head Coach Cindy Fredrick will be hosting a weekly “Web Conference” every week this season. She will address a variety of topics, from the state of the team to that week’s opponents.
Tied For First at UNC Tournament ? The Hawkeyes finished the Northern Colorado Tournament with a perfect 3-0 record to earn a share of first place. Florida Golf Coast also finished with a 3-0 record and was named the overall champion on point differential.
Opening Win ? Iowa opened the tournament with a 3-1 win against UC Riverside. The Hawkeyes roared back after dropping the first game to win three straight.
The Hawkeyes stormed out in game two and never trailed, winning 30-20. UC Riverside nearly tied the game at 15-14, but a 10-3 run gave the Hawkeyes a comfortable lead.
Game three stayed within two points until the Hawkeyes took a 12-8 lead. UC Riverside battled back to tie the score at 18-18, but a 6-0 run gave Iowa a 24-18 lead. The Highlanders fought back once again to tie the game at 28-18, but the Hawkeyes put away the Highlanders, 30-28.
The Hawkeyes sealed the win in game four with an 11-2 run midway through the game to take a 20-11 lead. Both teams traded points until Iowa took a 28-21 lead and eventually won the match.
Blinding the Flash ? The Hawkeyes coasted past Saint Francis (PA), 3-0.
Iowa set the tone in game one, storming out to a 5-0 lead. The Hawkeyes took a commanding 21-9 lead later in game one and eventually won the game by a 30-16 score.
The Hawkeyes pushed the match to 2-0 after a 30-24 win in game two. Iowa went on an 11-2 run to take a 23-13 lead and brought up game point at 29-20.
Game three remained close, but Iowa closed the match on a 6-3 run for the win.
Taming the Bears ? Iowa defeated host school Northern Colorado, 3-1 in the its final match Saturday night.
Game one remained close, with 12 ties and four lead changes. Northern Colorado eventually put the game away with a kill and took advantage of two Hawkeye errors for a 1-0 lead.
Iowa took an early 10-4 lead in game two and never looked back, stretching the advantage to 25-19. Back-to-back kills set up game point and Iowa tied the match.
The Hawkeyes went on a 7-1 run to end game three to take a 2-1 lead heading into the locker room.
The Hawkeyes took an overwhelming 10-0 lead in game four and never looked back to secure an undefeated record at the Northern Colorado Tournament.
Scouting Drake ? The Drake Bulldogs are 2-2 overall.
The Bulldog offense is led by Mikayla Sims who has 50 kills and is averaging 3.12 kills per game. She also has a .316 attack percentage.
Sarah Schuster is Drake’s primary setter with 169 assists (10.56 assists per game).
Drake is coached by Amy Farber Knowles. Iowa leads the all-time series, 19-11-1.
Scouting Iowa State ? The Iowa State Cyclones are 2-4 overall.
Lauren Cummings leads the Cyclones with 69 kills (3.0 kills per game). Jen Malcom has 45 kills (1.96 kills per game) and a team-best .321 attack percentage.
Iowa State’s primary setters include Kaylee Manns with 142 (11.83 assists per game) and Cassie Pratt (11.27 assists per game).
The Cyclones are coached by Christy Johnson. Iowa leads the all-time series, 21-17.
Scouting LSU ? The 21st ranked LSU Tigers are 6-0 overall.
Lauren DeGirolamo leads the Tiger attack with 79 kills (3.43 kills per game) and a .441 attack percentage. Kyna Washington has 75 kills (3.41 kills per game).
LSU’s primary setter is Maggie Lonergan with 178 assists (10.47 assists per game).
The Tigers are coached by Fran Flory. Iowa trails the all-time series, 0-1.
Hawkeyes Named to All-Tourney Team ? Junior Laura Kremer and sophomore Megan Schipper were named to the all-tournament team at the Northern Colorado Tournament.
Kremer on a Roll ? Junior Laura Kremer recorded 37 kills (3.36 kills per game), a .431 attack percentage and 13 block assists (1.18 blocks per game) in Iowa’s three wins at the Northern Colorado Tournament last weekend.
Kremer tallied a career-high 10 kills on her 20th birthday against UC Riverside Friday, only to set a new career high with 14 kills the next day against Saint Francis. The LaMotte, IA, native finished with a .722 attack percentage. She hit .833 in game one, 1.000 (6-6) in game two and .333 in game three.
Hitters Impressive Against Bears ? Iowa’s outside hitting tandem of freshman Megan Eskew and sophomore Megan Schipper along with middle blockers junior Laura Kremer and redshirt freshman Becky Walters tallied impressive attack percentages against Northern Colorado.
Walters led the team with a .600 percentage while Kremer hit .417. Schipper hit .407 and Schipper rounded out the attack at .355.
Iowa Ranks High in Attendance ? Iowa’s average home attendance of 1,252 fans is the 12th-highest average attendance in the nation.
In addition, Iowa’s opening night crowd of 1,584 against BYU is the 24th largest single-game crowd thus far in 2007.
Hawkeyes in Big Ten Stats ? As a team, Iowa ranks second in the Big Ten in blocking with 61 total blocks (3.05 blocks per game). The Hawkeyes have eight solo blocks and 106 block assists in 20 games played. Minnesota leads the conference with 70 total blocks (3.88 blocks per game).
Junior Kiley Fister is fourth in the Big Ten in service aces with 13 in 20 games played (0.65 service aces per game).
Junior Laura Kremer is fourth in Big Ten ranks in blocks. Kremer has a total of 31 block assists.
Welcome to Iowa City ? Coach Fredrick welcomes six freshmen to her squad this season. Those freshmen include Katie Kennedy, Samantha Brannigan, Aimee Huffman, Megan Eskew, Signe Mueller and Katie Wessels.
VolleyBlog ? Hawkeye juniors Catherine Smale and Emily Hiza will be blogging throughout the season for hawkeyesports.com. Both student-athletes will be discussing everything from road trips to what it’s like being an athlete at the University of Iowa.
