Nov. 8, 2008
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IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa team fell to a ranked opponent for the second-straight night, this time at the hands of No. 18 Purdue, 25-27, 23-25, 16-25, Saturday night inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa drops to 13-13 overall and 5-9 in Big Ten action, while Purdue improves to 20-6 overall and 9-5 in conference play.
Iowa played the 18th-ranked team in the country tough, but just couldn’t push through for the win.
“I thought we played very hard tonight,” Head Coach Sharon Dingman said. “We fought through those first two sets, but were unable to get that extra kill to put us over the edge. You can see why our two opponents this weekend are ranked; they are able to get those extra points to seal up sets. I’m proud of the way we battled, but we need to do some things better to turn those losses into wins.”
Senior Catherine Smale had 10 kills, with senior Laura Kremer and junior Megan Schipper finishing with six. Freshman Joanna Giampoli came off the bench to give Iowa a spark, recording four kills and three total blocks. Senior Kiley Fister had 32 assists and senior Emily Hiza had 11 digs.
Iowa came close to taking an early lead, but fell 27-25 in the first set. Smale had seven of her 10 kills in the frame.
Purdue used a 4-1 run to take a 17-11 lead, but Iowa fought back later in the set with a 6-1 surge to come within two at 19-17. Walters later collected a kill to knot the score at 22, and the teams traded points to tie the score at 23. Junior Christina Meister then tallied one of her three service aces to bring up set point at 24-23, but two-straight Boilermaker points reversed the tables at 25-24 in favor of Purdue. Schipper tied the score at 25, but two-consecutive Purdue points ended the Hawkeye comeback.
The Hawkeyes were close once again in the second set, but dropped a 25-23 decision.
With Iowa leading 8-6, Purdue used a 4-0 run to take a 10-8 lead, forcing a Hawkeye timeout. The set saw ties at 10 and 11 before a 7-1 Boilermaker run made the count 18-12. Iowa turned on a comeback, putting together an impressive 6-1 surge to come within one point at 19-18. The teams exchanged points for a 20-19 count, but three Purdue points in the next four rallies brought the score to 23-20. Purdue then committed an error for a 23-21 score, but a kill gave Purdue set point at 24-21. Two-straight Boilermaker errors made things interesting at 24-23, but an Iowa error ended the set.
Purdue took the match with a 25-16 win in the third set.
The Boilermakers used an 8-1 run with the score tied at 11 to take a 19-12 lead. Iowa tried to get back in the frame with a short 3-1 run to make the score 20-15, but Purdue closed with a 5-1 run.
Iowa hits the road next weekend and will take on Northwestern Friday at 7 p.m. in Evanston.