Oct. 9, 2007
IOWA CITY – This Week ?The University of Iowa volleyball team hosts Illinois and No. 9 Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes will face the Fighting Illini Friday and the Badgers Saturday. First serve for both matches is slated for 7 p.m.
Hawkeyes on the Air ? Iowa’s match against No. 9 Wisconsin Saturday night will be broadcast live on AM 800 KXIC. Brian Wilson will handle the play-by-play call.
Hawkeyes on the Web ? Fans who can’t make it to North Carver this weekend can follow the action on hawkeyesports.com, where a live video broadcast along with Gametracker will be available.
Live video complete with play-by-play from the voice of Iowa volleyball, Brian Wilson, can be found on the volleyball schedule page of hawkeyesports.com. Gametracker can also be found on the schedule page of hawkeyesports.com.
Live audio will be available for all 31 matches this fall while live video will be available for all of Iowa’s home matches. All Big Ten matches require fans to pay a $9.95 per month subscription fee.
This Weekend’s Promotions ? The Hawkeyes are hosting a special event Saturday against Wisconsin. The match has been designated “Attacking Breast Cancer” night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Fans will have plenty of ways to participate in the event.
Fans are encouraged to wear pink. Any fan wearing pink will be automatically entered in a raffle to win an assortment of prizes. The first 500 fans will also receive free pink rally towels.
Iowa will also use four pink volleyballs during warm-ups and junior libero Emily Hiza will wear a pink jersey during the match. Both the volleyballs and the pink libero jerseys are currently available for bid at hawkeyesports.com. The volleyballs and jersey will be autographed by Cindy Fredrick and come with a certificate of authenticity. All proceeds will benefit the University of Iowa Holden Cancer Research Center. In addition, the University of Iowa Athletic Department will donate $1 to the Holden Cancer Research Center for every fan over 1,000 in attendance.
Iowa Falls to No. 3 Penn State ? The Hawkeyes were defeated by the third-ranked Nittany Lions, 3-0 Friday night in University Park, PA.
Penn State grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the match with a 30-23 victory in game one. The game started with six ties before Iowa took an 8-6 lead off a Megan Schipper kill. The Nittany Lions used a 6-0 run to take a 12-8 lead and didn’t trail after. The Hawkeyes fought back with two separate 3-0 runs late in the match to make the score 25-19 and 27-22, but couldn’t get any closer.
The Nittany Lions started game two with a 15-2 run to take a commanding lead. Penn State stretched its lead to 22-6 before a 3-0 Iowa run made the score 22-9. The Hawkeyes used kills from Schipper and freshman Megan Eskew to cap a 5-2 run for a 25-14 score, but Penn State finished on a 5-1 run to take the game, 30-15.
Iowa battled in game three, but couldn’t come up with the win as Penn State came out on top, 30-24. The Hawkeyes took a 4-3 lead off a Laura Kremer kill and maintained the advantage, stretching the lead to 15-10. Penn State then used a 6-1 run to tie the game at 16. Schipper recorded a kill to give Iowa a slight advantage at 17-16, but the Nittany Lions went on a 4-1 run to take their first lead of the game. Iowa took advantage of two Penn State errors to the game at 20, but Penn State finished on a 10-3 surge to win the match.
Ohio State Tops Iowa ? The Hawkeyes lost a hard-fought match at Ohio State, 3-1 Saturday in Columbus, OH.
Ohio State took a 1-0 lead in the match after winning game one, 30-22. The Buckeyes grabbed an early 3-2 lead and never looked back, stretching the lead to 17-13 later in the game. Iowa tried to battle back with a Kiley Fister kill and a Megan Schipper block to make the score 23-19, but the Buckeyes finished game one on a 7-3 run for the win.
Iowa fell behind 2-0 in the match after a 30-21 loss in game two. The game saw one tie at one point a piece before Ohio State took the lead for the entire second game. The Hawkeyes kept the deficit under five points until the Buckeyes used a 6-0 run to take a 22-12 advantage. Iowa’s front row of Laura Kremer and Schipper tried to pull the Hawkeyes closer with three-straight blocks, but two quick Ohio State points gave the Buckeyes a 24-16 lead. Iowa took advantage of a Buckeye error to cut the lead to six, but Ohio State rattled off six points in the final nine rallies for the win.
The Hawkeyes fought back in game three with a 30-25 win. Iowa took an early 5-4 lead and maintained the advantage throughout the game. Iowa used two separate 3-0 runs to take a 13-8 lead and took a 22-13 lead later in the game after a block by Aimee Huffman and Fister capped a 4-0 Hawkeye run. The Buckeyes battled back with a 6-1 run late in the game to bring the score to 27-24, but the Hawkeyes scored the final three points off kills by Catherine Smale and Schipper along with an Ohio State error to win the game.
Iowa stormed out to a 10-5 lead in game four and increased its advantage to 17-11 after an Ohio State error. The Buckeyes then went on a 6-0 run to force a tie at 17. Kremer recorded two kills to give Iowa a 19-17 lead, but Ohio State fought back to knot the score at 19. Kremer once again blasted a kill to put Iowa up one at 20-19 and a Buckeye error gave Iowa a 21-19 lead. Another tie at 21 was broke by a Huffman kill, but Ohio State tied the game at 23 and took its first lead at 23-22. The Buckeyes closed game four on a furious 7-3 surge to win the match.
Scouting Illinois ? The Illinois Fighting Illini are 10-6 overall and 2-4 in Big Ten play.
Laura Debruler leads the Illinois attack with 298 kills, which ranks second in the Big Ten. Johannah Bangert has 118 kills with a ..371 hitting percentage, which is the sixth-best percentage in the conference.
Lizzie Bazzetta has a team-high 682 assists and is seventh in the Big Ten with 24 service aces. Ashley Edinger is fourth in the Big Ten with 302 digs while Bangert’s 1.29 blocks per game (81 total) ranks seventh in the conference.
The Fighting Illini are coached by Don Hardin. Iowa trails in the all-time series, 41-13.
Scouting No. 9 Wisconsin ? The ninth-ranked Wisconsin Badgers are 14-1 overall and 6-0 in conference play. Wisconsin’s only loss came against BYU in five games.
Brittney Dolgner is third in the Big Ten with 4.59 kills per game (210 total). Jackie Simpson ranks second in the Big Ten with 12.95 assists per game (557 total) while Jocelyn Wack has the second-most service aces in the conference with 0.52 per game (27 total).
Taylor Reineke leads the Badgers in blocks with 86 total and her 1.65 per game average is third-best in the Big Ten.
The Badgers are coached by Pete Waite. Iowa trails in the all-time series, 37-17-1.
Hawkeyes on the Block ? Iowa out-blocked both No. 3 Penn State and Ohio State this weekend by one-half of a block. The Hawkeyes recorded 9.5 blocks to Penn State’s nine Friday and out-blocked the Buckeyes, 11.5-11 Saturday.
The Hawkeyes were led by junior Laura Kremer, who tallied 10 block assists in the two matches. Freshman Aimee Huffman had nine total blocks (one solo, nine assists) while sophomore Megan Schipper added eight block assists.
Kremer Likes Carver ? Junior Laura Kremer must like her surroundings at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The LaMotte, IA, native has recorded 90 of her 164 kills and 50 of her 88 blocks in Iowa’s five home games this season.
Climbing the Records Ladder ? Juniors Emily Hiza and Kiley Fister are making their mark on the Iowa volleyball records books.
Fister ranks fifth in career assists with 2,957. She needs only 196 more assists to move past Barb Zvonek, who is currently fourth (3,153).
Hiza started the season ranked 12th in career digs, but has tallied 283 so far in 2007 to move her into fifth place with 1,300. She needs only 84 more digs to pass Kari Hamel, who is in fourth place with 1,383 digs.
Hawkeyes In Big Ten Stats ? Juniors Laura Kremer, Emily Hiza and Kiley Fister each rank in the top 10 of different Big Ten statistical categories.
Kremer is averaging 1.35 blocks per game (88 total), which is sixth-best in the conference. Hiza is sixth in the Big Ten in digs with 4.35 per game (283 total).
In Big Ten games only, Hiza ranks fourth in digs with 4.61 per game (106 total). Kremer is eighth in blocks with 1.35 per game (31 total), while Fister is 10th in assists with 9.3 per game (214 total).
It’s Been a While ? Iowa’s win over No. 11 Michigan was the program’s first win over a ranked opponent since 2000. The Hawkeyes defeated No. 20 Michigan State, 3-2 on October 21, 2000. Iowa came back from a two-game deficit to defeat Michigan State, 3-2 as well.
Iowa Ranks High in Attendance ? Iowa’s average home attendance of 934 fans is the 34th-highest average attendance in the nation. The Hawkeyes have had nine home matches, with a season-high attendance of 1,584 fans at the season opener against BYU. The BYU crowd was also the second-largest crowd in Iowa volleyball history.
Walters Undergoes Surgery ? Redshirt freshman Becky Walters underwent successful surgery to repair her injured knee, October 4.
Walters will miss the rest of the 2007 season after suffering a serious knee injury in Iowa’s match against Indiana, September 21.
Walters was leading the team with a .265 hitting percentage and also had 113 kills along with 52 total blocks (10 solo, 42 assists).
Staying Home ? Seven of the 14 players on the Hawkeye roster are from the state of Iowa.
Those players are Laura Kremer (LaMotte), Christina Meister (West Des Moines), Katie Kennedy (Iowa City), Becky Walters (Parkersburg), Megan Schipper (Aplington), Signe Mueller (Iowa City) and Katie Wessels (Manchester).
Walters and Schipper both attended Aplington-Parkersburg High School while Kennedy and Mueller both prepped at Iowa City High School.
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.
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