Sept. 2, 2008
IOWA CITY, Iowa – – This Week ? The University of Iowa volleyball team travels to Denver, CO, this weekend to compete in the Pioneer Classic. The Hawkeyes will face Tennessee Friday at 6 p.m. before taking on host-school Denver Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and Virginia Saturday at 6 p.m. All matches will be held at Hamilton Gymnasium on the campus of Denver University. All times listed are central.
Hawkeyes on the Web ? Fans can follow Hawkeye volleyball on hawkeyesports.com, where Gametracker, live audio and video will be available throughout the season.
Live audio coverage will begin Sept. 12-13 at the Iowa State Tournament and will be available for the remainder of matches. Live streaming video can be found on hawkeyesports.com for all 13 home matches. Gametracker will be available for all 13 home matches and for select road matches. Check hawkeyesports.com for live stats availability.
Audio, video and Gametracker links can be found on the volleyball schedule page of hawkeyesports.com.
Scouting Tennessee ? The Tennessee Lady Volunteers are 3-0 after picking up wins over Chattanooga, Houston and Marquette last weekend.
Milan Clarke leads the team with 34 kills while Kylie Marshall has 25 kills with a .323 attack percentage. Michaela Hanakova has a team-best 67 assists. Chloe Goldman has a team-high 38 digs while Leah Hinkey leads the team with 20 total blocks.
The all-time series is tied, 1-1. Iowa lost its last meeting against Tennesee in four sets during the 1997 season
Scouting Denver ? The Denver Pioneers are 2-1 overall after defeating Eastern Washington and Arkansas, but falling to Colorado State.
Holly Benson has a team-best 29 kills and also leads the team with 31 digs. Clare Maxwell is the team’s primary setter, contributing 97 assists, while Jacqueline Paul paces the team with 11 total blocks.
The all-time series is tied, 1-1. The two teams last met in 2004, with Iowa winning in three sets.
Scouting Virginia ? The Virginia Cavaliers are 3-0 after knocking off Murray State, New Hampshire and James Madison to open the season last weekend.
Beth Shelton has a team-high 36 kills while Lauren Dickson has 31. Marlow Bruneau has 95 assists and Brittani Rendina has 30 digs. Sydney Hill leads the team with 10 total blocks.
This is the first meeting between the two teams.
Iowa Goes 1-2 in Alabama ? The Sharon Dingman era began last weekend as the Hawkeyes went 1-2 at the Hampton Inn/Bama Bash, hosted by the University of Alabama.
Dingman notched her first win in Black and Gold with a 3-0 victory over Nicholls State to open the 2008 campaign. Senior Catherine Smale and junior Megan Schipper led the team with eight kills while senior Kiley Fister had 23 assists, five kills and a .714 attack percentage.
The Hawkeyes then lost a hard-fough, four-set match to Western Kentucky. Smale once again had a strong outing with 20 kills and a career high .514 attack percentage. Fister added 44 assists while sophomore Megan Eskew had 14 digs.
Iowa faced host-school Alabama and lost another tough, four-set match to close the tournament. Schipper tallied 17 kills while senior Laura Kremer and Smale each had 11.
Schipper Named to all-Tournament Team ? Junior Megan Schipper was named to the Hampton Inn/Bama Bash all-tournament team after putting up some impressive numbers over the weekend.
Schipper collected 35 kills with a .244 attack percentage and also led the team with 24 digs, seven total blocks and three service aces.
The Aplington, IA, native shined in Iowa’s loss to Alabama, recording a double-double with 17 kills and 11 digs. Schipper also had a double-double against Western Kentucky with 10 kills and 11 digs.
Freshmen See Time ? All four of Iowa’s freshmen saw the court this weekend.
Joanna Giampoli saw action in all three matches, collecting a weekend-best three kills and one block assist against Nicholls State. Paige Stevens also played in all three matches, collecting one kill, one dig and one service ace against Alabama. Mallory Husz played against both Nicholls State and Alabama, tallying one kill and one block assist against the Colonels. Tiffany Nilges saw the court against Nicholls State and recorded one kill.
Hawkeyes Like the Second Set ? Iowa claimed victories in the second set of each match this weekend.
Iowa took care of Nicholls State, 25-20, Western Kentucky 26-24 and Alabama, 25-17.
Tough Schedule in `08 ? Six Iowa opponents are ranked in the latest CBS College Sports Network/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 poll.. Two additional teams are also listed as receiving votes. Iowa will also square off against 10 teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2007.
Opponents ranked include Penn State (No. 1), Wisconsin (No. 10), Minnesota (No. 12), Purdue (No. 18), Illinois (No. 19) and Michigan (No. 25). Teams receiving votes are Iowa State and Western Kentucky.
The 10 teams who played in the NCAA Tournament last year are Western Kentucky, Alabama, Iowa State, Xavier, Minnesota, Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State, who also won the 2007 Big Ten and NCAA championship.
Climbing the Records Ladder ? Below is a list of where current Hawkeyes rank in different career school records. The number in parenthsees is the next place.
Kiley Fister
Assists – 3,514 4th, (3rd, 4,128)
Service Aces – 83, T-14th, (13th, 86)
Catherine Smale
Kills – 974, 15th, (14th, 1,000)
Digs – 816, 19th, (18th, 820)
Becky Walters
Attack Percentage – .265, 2nd, (1st, .276)
Emily Hiza
Digs – 1,522, 4th, (3rd, 1,536)
Hilgenberg Transfers to Iowa ? Sophomore setter Mara Hilgenberg transferred to the University of Iowa from Indiana University this summer.
The Lake Forest, IL, native played in all 117 sets for Indiana as freshman in 2007. She led the team with 1,402 assists.
New Rules For `08 ? The NCAA has implemented some new rules that will go into effect for the 2008 season that reflect international volleyball rules.
The term “game” has been changed to “set.” Matches will still be the best of five “sets.”
The first four “sets” will also be played to 25 points instead of 30 points. The fifth set will still be played to 15 points.
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