Hoosier Comeback Sinks Hawkeyes

Sept. 21, 2007

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IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa volleyball team (8-4, 0-1) was defeated by Indiana (10-3, 1-0), 3-2 Friday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa led the match, 2-0, but Indiana won the next three games to give Iowa a loss to open the conference season.

Iowa had to play four of the five games without redshirt freshman Becky Walters, who went down with an injury midway through the first game. The Hawkeyes were also without the services of their leading hitter, sophomore Megan Schipper, who suffered an injury during practice last week.

“I thought we played extremely hard tonight, considering we were without two of our starters,” Head Coach Cindy Fredrick said. “I thought Laura Kremer played extremely hard for us all night and Emily Hiza did a great job digging, but it’s a battle when two of your starters are on the bench. We need to re-group and get ready for Purdue tomorrow night.”

Kremer tied a career-high with 14 kills and had a .333 attack percentage while freshman Megan Eskew also tallied 14 kills. Hiza added 21 digs while junior Kiley Fister recorded 32 assists.

The Hawkeyes battled through game one to earn a 31-29 win. The game remained within two points until Iowa put together a 10-4 run to take a 20-14 lead. Indiana responded later in the game with its own 9-4 run to the game at 26-26. The teams traded points to tie the game at 27, 28 and 29 until the Hawkeyes used a Kremer kill and an Indiana attack error to get the win.

Iowa stretched its lead in game two to 19-14 after a 7-7 tie and never trailed after. An Aimee Huffman ace coupled with a block by Kremer and senior Stacy Vitali gave Iowa a 25-18 lead. The Hawkeyes had game point at 29-20, but the Hoosiers recorded three points to bring the score to 29-23. Vitali blasted a kill to give Iowa a 2-0 lead heading into the locker rooms.

Indiana started game three with a 22-9 run to take a commanding lead and was able to put Iowa away, 30-21.

The Hawkeyes fought to seal the match in game four, but fell 31-29. Iowa came within one point at 11-10, but Indiana fought off many Iowa comebacks in the game. The Hawkeyes eventually tied the game at 28 and again at 29, but couldn’t nudge ahead as the Hoosiers forced game five.

Iowa scored first in game five, but Indiana quickly responded to the knot the score at one. The game saw ties at two, three and four points a piece before Iowa took an 8-5 lead. The Hawkeyes increased their advantage to 10-7, before a quick 3-0 Hoosier run tied the game for the fifth time at 10. The teams went back-and-forth with ties at 11, 12 and 13 before two Indiana kills ended the match.

The Hawkeyes return to action Saturday night at 7 p.m. against Purdue in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

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