Sept. 12, 2009
- Iowa and the Big Ten Network
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch (2009-10 season)
IOWA CITY, IA – The University of Iowa volleyball team fell to Northern Colorado 3-1 Saturday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Junior Katie Kennedy led the Hawkeyes with a career-high 16 kills, junior Mara Hilgenberg contributed with a career-best 48 assists and senior Megan Schipper added 17 digs.
The Hawkeyes fell behind the Bears early, dropping the first set 25-18. Kennedy attacked the net at a .429 clip to lead the Hawkeyes with four kills, but she was just one of four Iowa players to record an attacking point in the opening frame.
Iowa started flat, falling behind 11-3 to start the contest. A kill from freshman Emma Krieger Kittle and a UNC error eventually pulled the Hawkeyes with four points, 9-13, but the Bears halted any extensive Hawkeye rally and held on to take a 1-0 match lead.
Iowa found its legs in the second set. Junior Aimee Huffman recorded six kills and two block assists in the frame, while fellow junior Becky Walters contributed with four kills and a pair of digs.
Leading 13-11, the Hawkeyes put together an 11-point run, their longest of the season, to force set-point 24-11. Huffman contributed three kills and Walters recorded a pair of attacking points in the rally before UNC stopped the bleeding with a kill from Allison Raguse. Huffman then hammered home a kill to win the set 25-12 and tie the match at one game apiece.
Following a brief intermission, Northern Colorado attacked at a .378 clip to regain the match lead with a 32-30 win in set three. Schipper and Kennedy led the Hawkeyes with six kills each and Huffman added five kills, two assists and a pair of digs. The set featured 15 ties and seven lead changes.
The teams found themselves tied, 23-23, when Kennedy blasted a kill to give Iowa a set-point advantage, 24-23. UNC fought off set-point and answered with the next two points to take a 25-24 lead. Huffman, Kennedy and Hilgenberg answered the Bears’ attack with three kills each to give Iowa the lead back, 27-26, but UNC again answered with a pair of points to regain the lead 28-27. After sophomore Mallory Husz’s kill tied the set, 30-30, the Bears forced two Iowa errors to end the set and take a 2-1 match advantage.
The Hawkeyes were unable to derail the Bears of their third-set momentum and ended up falling in set four, 19-25. Huffman, Kennedy and Schipper each contributed three kills and Huffman added a team-high seven digs in the fourth set.
Iowa took a brief 3-2 lead on senior’s Christina Meister’s ace, but the Bears soon pulled away, using a five-point run to take a 15-7 edge. A Schipper kill eventually pulled the Hawkeyes within two points, 15-17, but UNC rallied off six-consecutive points to take a 23-15 lead and eventually held on to win the set and capture the match 3-1.
The Hawkeyes return to action tonight at the Hawkeye Challenge. Iowa will face Drake at 7 p.m. The game can be viewed live via hawkeyesports.com and heard locally on KXIC (AM 800).