Aug. 29, 2009
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Chicago, IL – The University of Iowa volleyball team improved to 2-0 with a 3-1 win over Marquette Saturday afternoon. The win gave the Hawkeyes their first 2-0 start since 2006.
Iowa was led by outside hitters Aimee Huffman and Megan Schipper. Huffman, a junior, and Schipper, a senior, recorded 12 and 14 kills in the match, respectively. Freshman Emma Krieger Kittle added two kills in her Hawkeye debut and junior Mara Hilgenberg finished the match with 40 assists, the highest total of her Hawkeye career.
“I thought our bench was tremendous,” said Head Coach Sharon Dingman. “This match will be indicative our season. We are going to need a cumulative effort all year.”
Iowa jumped to an early 1-0 match lead by capturing a back-and forth-opening set, 25-23. The match featured 17 ties and four lead changes. Junior Becky Walters led Iowa with four kills and Schipper added three kills and five digs.
Marquette captured the match’s largest lead, 19-16, but Iowa battled back by forcing two errors and sophomore Megan Husz added a kill to spark a 3-0 run and tie the game at 19-19. Iowa later trailed 21-22 before Walters and Schipper recorded back-to-back kills to take a 23-22 advantage. After Marquette tied the set, 23-23, Schipper recorded a blocking point to set up junior Aimee Huffman’s game-winning kill.
Iowa dropped the second set, 23-25. Schipper contributed six kills and attacked at a .455 clip. Junior Mara Hilgenberg added 13 assists and three digs, but Marquette battled tough to tie the match, 1-1.
The Hawkeyes fell behind early 0-3 and were unable to recover. Trailing 20-22, Walters took charge with a kill and an ace to tie the score for the first time since 0-0, but Marquette rebounded with three of the next four points to hold on for the win.
Iowa bounced back in the third set with a 25-18 win. Walters led the way with four kills and a service ace, while Hilgenberg recorded 10 assists and seven digs.
After trailing for most of the first part of third set, Krieger Kittle recorded her first collegiate kill to tie set, 14-14, and spark a late Hawkeye rally. After the teams battled to a 17-17 tie, Iowa rattled off eight of the final nine set points to take a 2-1 match advantage.
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I thought our bench was tremendous. This match will be indicative our season. We are going to need a cumulative effort all year.”
UI Head Coach
Sharon Dingman |
Iowa rode its momentum from the third set to control a 25-15 fourth set victory. Junior Katie Kennedy came off the bench to contribute a season-high four kills. Huffman and Krieger Kittle added four kills apiece and Schipper showed her all-around game with six digs.
Iowa jumped to an early 5-1 lead behind two Krieger Kittle kills. Marquette and Iowa exchanged points until Huffman recorded a kill to give the Hawkeyes a 17-12 advantage and spark a 6-0 Iowa run. Kennedy attacked with consecutive kills to extend the Iowa lead 24-13 and a Marquette error ended the third set, 25-15.
The Hawkeyes return to action tonight at 5 p.m. to conclude the Loyola Invitational vs. Eastern Kentucky.