Walters Serves Up Record in Hawkeye Loss

Nov. 26, 2010

IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa volleyball team fell to No. 7 Penn State in straight sets at Carver-Hawkeye Arena Friday afternoon. Senior Becky Walters led the Iowa charge with 10 kills and set the modern day single-season service ace record with her 37th ace of the season. Freshman Nikki Dailey posted 21 of Iowa’s 30 assists and freshman Bethany Yeager worked for 17 digs. Penn State clinched a share of the Big Ten championship with the win.

“Penn State is just an excellent team,” said head coach Sharon Dingman. “I thought we played pretty well and I was happy with the effort. Becky played awesome. She can help this team anywhere on the court, on the service line and at the net. It’s pretty neat to see a middle blocker set a service record.”

Walters had been tied with former Hawkeye Sara Meyermann, who set the modern day service ace record with 36 in 2001.

The Hawkeyes dropped the first set of the afternoon 25-18. Iowa used a three point run, the longest of the set, to take a 4-2 lead. A pair of errors from Penn State and a kill from freshman Rachel Bedell gave Iowa the early advantage. The first half of the set saw six ties and three lead changes, but Penn State took the lead after a 9-9 tie and slowly pulled away. The Hawkeyes scored back-to-back points with a kill from junior Tiffany Nilges and an ace from Dailey to pull Iowa within three, 18-15, but that’s as close as Iowa would get for the remainder of the set. Walters’ five kills led the Hawkeye effort.

Iowa began the second set with a kill from Bedell to take the 1-0 lead. Penn state responded with a four point run and never looked back as they topped the Hawkeyes 25-13. Iowa earned points with kills from junior Mallory Husz, Walters, Bedell, Nilges and junior Megan Eskew. Husz’s three kills and Dailey’s seven assists led the Hawkeyes in the second set.

Penn State clinched the win with a 25-20 victory in the third set. Once again, Bedell gave Iowa a 1-0 advantage with a kill, one of her three in the set. Seven ties ensued, but Iowa was never able to reclaim the lead. Back-to-back points for Walters made the score 19-17 late in the set, but Penn State continued to press and took the match in straight sets. Walters and Husz added three kills each for Iowa.

“We came out and played well in the third set,” said Dingman. “It was nice to see the team respond out of the intermission. I hope we’re able to carry a little momentum into tomorrow’s match.”

The Hawkeyes will host Ohio State Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the regular season finale.