Oct. 12, 2007
IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa volleyball team was defeated by Illinois, 3-0 Friday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes now stand at 9-9 overall and 1-6 in Big Ten play.
“We let the game get away from us defensively,” Head Coach Cindy Fredrick said. “We did a nice job blocking again tonight, but we need to play stronger defense. We let Illinois dictate the match and we just couldn’t break through when we needed to tonight.”
Iowa was led by junior Laura Kremer who recorded 10 kills and four total blocks (three solo, one assist). Junior Catherine Smale added nine kills while senior Stacy Vitali chipped in seven kills and five block assists. Iowa out-blocked its opponent for the fourth-straight match, ending with a 14-9 advantage.
Game one saw nine ties before Illinois used a small 3-0 run to take a 20-17 lead. The Fighting Illini stretched their lead to 27-22 before the Hawkeyes took advantage of kills by Kremer and sophomore Megan Schipper along with two Illinois errors to make the score 27-26. Illinois finished on another 3-0 run to finish the game with a 30-26 win.
Iowa jumped out to a lead in game two and maintained the advantage until Illinois tied the game at 17. The teams traded points with ties at 18, 20 and 21 before the Fighting Illini went on a 4-1 run to take a 25-22 lead. The Hawkeyes used back-to-back blocks from Kremer along with a Smale kill to tie the game at 25. The game saw another tie at 26 before Illinois went on a 3-0 run to bring up game point at 29-26. Iowa fought back with a kill from freshman Megan Eskew and a block from Eskew and fellow freshman Aimee Huffman for a 29-28 score, but an Illinois kill ended game two, 30-28.
Iowa battled back to tie game three at four after Illinois took an early lead. The game remained close with ties at five, six, seven, eight, 10 and 11 before the Fighting Illini took a slim 14-11 advantage. Iowa battled back to bring the game within one at 14-13, but a solid 7-1 surge by Illinois made the score 21-14. Illinois never looked back, increasing its lead to 25-19. Iowa forced Illinois to take a timeout after bringing the score to 26-23 and the Fighting Illini responded with four points in the next five rallies for the win.
Iowa returns to action Saturday night at 7 p.m. against No. 9 Wisconsin in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The match has been designated as “Attacking Breast Cancer” night. Fans are encouraged to wear pink and there will be plenty of chances for fans to participate in this special event to raise money and awareness for the Holden Cancer Research Center.
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