Oct. 27, 2007
IOWA CITY – Penn State proved why they are the second-ranked team in the country with a 3-0 win over Iowa Saturday night. The Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions played in front of 1,389 fans, which was the sixth-largest crowd in Iowa volleyball history.
Junior Catherine Smale led Iowa with nine kills. Junior Laura Kremer added seven kills with an impressive .400 hitting percentage. Junior Kiley Fister chipped in 23 assists and three block assists while freshman Aimee Huffman had seven kills and three block assists.
Penn State set the tone in game one, hitting at a .500 clip en route to a 30-15 win. Iowa took its only lead of the game off a Penn State service error at 3-2, but the Nittany Lions forced ties at four, five and six before taking the lead for good at 8-7. Penn State followed with a 13-4 run to put the game out of reach.
The Nittany Lions followed with a 30-23 win in game two. The Hawkeyes forced a tie at one point each, but couldn’t get any closer in the game. Penn State stretched its lead to 17-10 later in the game, but a 10-6 Hawkeye run brought the Iowa within three at 23-20. Penn State responded with 7-3 surge to close out the game.
Iowa fought back from an early 3-1 deficit in the third game to force a tie at five off a Penn State error. A Kremer kill knotted the score at six, and two-straight Nittany Lion errors gave the Hawkeyes an 8-6 lead. Another Kremer kill later in the game gave Iowa a 10-8 advantage, but Penn State forced ties at 10, 12, 15 and 18 before taking a 19-18 lead they never relinquished. Penn State held on for a 30-25 win to seal the match.
The Hawkeyes return to action Wednesday night when they travel to Minnesota to face the Golden Gophers. Match time is set for 7 p.m. in Minneapolis. The match will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.
Click HERE for the Big Ten Network home page.