Iowa Falls to Wake Forest, 3-1

Stats

Sept. 3, 2010

Box Score

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St. Louis – The University of Iowa volleyball team dropped a four-set match to Wake Forest Friday afternoon on Day One of the Marcia E. Hamilton Active Ankle Challenge. Wake Forest jumped on the Hawkeyes early, two sets to none, but Iowa captured a thrilling third set and nearly tied the match in set four before a Demon Deacon rally thwarted the Hawkeyes’ comeback attempt.

Junior Paige Stevens picked up a double-double with 38 assists and 12 digs and sophomore Mallory Husz added 11 kills to lead the Iowa offense. Senior Becky Walters led Iowa with nine blocks and freshman Bethany Yeager picked up a team-high 20 digs.

“We told the team that it’s really hard to get down 2-0,” said Head Coach Sharon Dingman. “We played so hard to get back into the third and fourth sets but it’s very difficult to come back from that hole. The way we’re starting matches has been troublesome so we need address our preparation.”

Iowa dropped the opening set, 25-19. Husz and freshman Rachael Bedell paced the Iowa offense with three kills apiece, but the Demon Deacons’ duo of Andrea Beck and Kristen White recorded five kills each to lead Wake to an opening set victory. Walters recorded a pair of blocks sandwiched between two Deacon errors to pull Iowa within six late in the frame, 24-18, but White slammed her fifth kill to give Wake a one-set lead.

Wake Forest jumped to a two-set advantage with a 25-18 victory in set two. Iowa stormed to a 3-0 lead behind kills from Bedell and Megan Eskew and a stuffed block by Walters, but Wake answered with its own three-point run to tie the set. The Deacons used a 4-0 run to take a 10-6 advantage before a forced error and consecutive kills from Walters and Eskew pulled Iowa within two, 11-9. Walters would later fight off set point with consecutive kills to pull Iowa within six, 24-18, but Wake killed set point to take the two-set lead.

The Hawkeyes jumped on the board with an impressive 25-21 win in set three. Trailing 4-1, Iowa strung together a six-point run to take a lead it wouldn’t give up. Bedell recorded a pair of kills and sophomore Allison Straumann picked up a kill as Iowa built a 7-4 lead. Wake came back and pulled within a point, but the Hawkeyes answered with points from Straumann, Bedell, Husz and Nikki Dailey to extend their lead, 12-7.

“Alli (Straumann) came in and did an excellent job,” Dingman said of her sophomore outside hitter, who recorded a career-best six kills. “She came in and took some good swings. We thought this was a team she could have some success against and she competed hard.”

Back-to-back blocks by Walters helped Iowa build its largest lead, 16-10, but the Deacons later answered with a 5-1 run to pull within a point, 21-20. A kill by Bedell, her fifth of the set, ended Wake’s rally and a Husz block and Eskew kill forced game point, 24-21. Husz then finished the set with a kill to give Iowa a 25-21 set victory.

The Hawkeyes continued their comeback efforts in set four, rallying from a 7-2 deficit to tie the frame, 8-8, behind two kills from Bedell and a Husz block. Iowa later used a kill and a block from Walters to take a 20-16 advantage, but Wake Forest finished the match on a 9-2 run to win the set, 25-22, and take the match, 3-1.

Iowa returns to action tomorrow at Chaifetz Arena for a pair of contests. The Hawkeyes play Creighton at 11:30 a.m. before concluding the Marcia E. Hamilton Active Ankle Challenge against tournament host Saint Louis.