Hawkeyes Ready for Iowa Invitational

Sept. 6, 2011

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Iowa Invitational Notes

FIRST SERVE
The University of Iowa volleyball team returns home this weekend to host the Iowa Invitational on Mediacom Court inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes open tournament play Friday at 7 p.m. against Chicago State. Iowa plays Loyola (Chicago) Saturday at 4:30 p.m. before concluding the three-day tournament against Oakland Saturday at 7 p.m.

IOWA INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, Sept. 9
4:30 p.m. Loyola (Chicago) vs. Oakland
7 p.m. Chicago State vs. Iowa
Saturday, Sept. 10
10 a.m. Chicago State vs. Oakland
12 p.m. Loyola (Chicago) vs. Iowa
4:30 p.m. Loyola (Chicago) vs. Chicago State
7 p.m. Oakland vs. Iowa

HAWKEYE VOLLEYBALL – STREAMING ONLINE
Fans can follow Hawkeye volleyball at hawkeyesports.com, where play-by-play voice of the Hawkeyes Ian Martin will call this weekend’s action live from Carver-Hawkeye Arena. An audio and video stream is available via Hawkeye All-Access, a subscription service committed to providing quality coverage of Hawkeye athletic events.

OFFICIAL IOWA VOLLEYBALL BLOG – LIVE STATS
Live stats and live blogging will be available for every match at the Iowa Invitational. A member of the Iowa volleyball staff will offer scoring updates and interactive content from the Official Iowa Volleyball Blog. Former Hawkeye Katie Kennedy and manager Melissa Brockway return in 2011 to host the live blog. Fans can also follow the action with live stats. Visit the Iowa volleyball page at hawkeyesports.com for links to live stats, blogging and Gametracker.

CHICAGO STATE (Sept. 9)
Head Coach: Bob Eskew (1-40, 2nd season)
2011 Record/Conference: 1-7 overall; 0-0 (Great West)
Top Performers: Alexandra Mason, Sr., MB, 2.0 kps, leads team with 24 total blocks.
Series Record/Last Meeting: Iowa leads 2-0/2006, Iowa 3-0

LOYOLA (CHICAGO) (Sept. 10)
Head Coach: Chris Muscat (1-4, 1st season)
2011 Record/Conference: 1-4 overall, 0-0 (Horizon)
Top Performers: Laura Purcell, Fr. OH, 3.12 kps, 2.24 dps
Series Record/Last Meeting: Iowa leads 3-2/2009, Iowa 3-0

OAKLAND (Sept. 10)
Head Coach: Rob Beam (54-67, 5th season)
2011 Record/Conference: 4-2 overall; 0-0 (Summit)
Top Performers: Meghan Bray, Jr. OH, 3.67 kps, 2.29 dps
Series Record/Last Meeting: Iowa leads 1-0/2000, Iowa 3-0

HITTING THE GROUND RUNNING
Freshmen Alex Lovell and Emily Yanny have started every match this season. Lovell opened her Hawkeye career with a team-leading 14 kills in Iowa’s win over Central Michigan. Her 16 kills against Arizona State is the highest kill total by any Hawkeye this season. Yanny recorded career bests in kills (15) and total blocks (6) in Iowa’s 3-1 win over Arizona State.

FATHERLY ROAD TRIP
Bob Eskew, head coach of Chicago State, is the father of Iowa senior Megan Eskew. Megan is a fifth year senior who ranks second on the Hawkeyes in kills per set. Bob is in his second season as Chicago State’s head coach after serving 22 seasons as head volleyball coach at Bloom Township High School in Chicago Heights, Ill. He led the Blazing Trojans to seven conference titles and a 389-109 overall record. Bob is a Chicago State alum.

DIGGIN’ THE D
Sophomore Bethany Yeager leads the Big Ten with 120 digs. Her 4.80 average ranks No. 4 in the conference. Yeager picked up 4.36 digs per set last season, the fourth highest total in the Big Ten. Yeager picked up 30 digs in Iowa’s 3-1 win over Arizona State, marking the fourth time in her career she has reached 30 digs in a single match.

BLOCK… HUSZ
Senior Mallory Husz has 31 total blocks in 2011, the second highest total in the Big Ten. Husz matched her career best with 11 total blocks in Iowa’s 3-1 win over Southern Miss. The 11 stuffs are the highest single match total in the conference.

HAWKEYE IRONWOMEN
Six Hawkeyes recorded starts in each of the first six matches of 2011. They include Megan Eskew, Bethany Yeager, Emily Yanny, Mallory Husz, Alex Lovell and Nikki Dailey. Eskew and Yeager started all 29 matches last season to run their streaks of consecutive starts to 35. Yeager has not missed a start in her collegiate career.

WHO’S THAT GIRL?
The Hawkeyes have seven newcomers on this year’s roster. They include sophomore transfer Grace Burns (5-9, DS) and true freshmen Erin Leppek (6-0, MB), Alex Lovell (5-11, OH), Megan Makuck (5-7, DS), Kari Mueller (5-7, DS), Alli O’Deen (5-11, OH) and Emily Yanny (6-2, MB).

ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Three Hawkeyes have earned all-tournament honors following the season’s first two tournaments. Bethany Yeager and Nikki Dailey were named to the all-tournament team at the Hawkeye Challenge (8/26/27). Yeager and Megan Eskew earned all-tournament laurels at the Iowa State Challenge. Yeager has now been named to the all-tournament team in each of the four collegiate tournaments she has played — others include 2010 Hawkeye Challenge and 2010 Marcia E. Hamilton Active Ankle Challenge.

HIGHEST HONORABLE MENTION
For the second straight year, Iowa’s recruiting class earned Highest Honorable Mention honors from PrepVolleyball.com. The honor is bestowed to those schools that just missed being ranked inside the top 30. Iowa’s seven-person recruiting class includes one sophomore and six freshmen.

BLACK & GOLD REPRESENTING THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE
Sophomores Rachael Bedell and Bethany Yeager each earned the opportunity to compete for USA Volleyball during the 2011 summer. Bedell helped lead the Women’s Junior A2-Europe Program to a gold medal at the European Global Challenge July 14-22. Yeager helped Team USA grab bronze in the International Junior Division of the USA High Performance Championships in Tucson, Ariz., July 26-29.

HAWKEYE SCHEDULE
The Hawkeyes’ 33-match schedule includes 16 contests against teams that appeared in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Iowa will face Big Ten newcomer Nebraska Oct. 19 in Lincoln, Neb., and Nov. 22 at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa will play a home-away series with every Big Ten team except Illinois and Northwestern. The Hawkeyes face the Illini once (at Illinois, Nov. 26) and the Wildcats once (at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Oct. 22).

TEAM CAPTAINS
Seniors Megan Eskew and Mallory Husz have been voted team captains for the 2011 season. In 2010, Husz led Iowa in kills per set (2.37) and ranked second in total blocks (93), while Eskew led the Hawkeyes in total attacks (800) and was one of three Hawkeyes to start every set. Eskew was also a captain in 2010. Both Hawkeyes have started every match this season.

BIG TEN GOES BIG IN AVCA POLL
The Big Ten is represented by seven teams in the Sept. 5 AVCA top 25 poll. Penn State, the preseason favorite for the fourth straight year, currently sits at No. 2 behind California. Illinois (No. 4) and Minnesota (No. 6) are also planted in the top 10. Other top 25 residents include Nebraska (No. 11), Purdue (No. 13), Michigan (No. 20) and Ohio State (No. 25). Michigan State is receiving votes.

SEASON TICKET INFORMATION
Season tickets remain on sale through the UI Ticket Office. Season tickets are two-for-$20 and include a complementary Hawkeye t-shirt. Contact the UI Ticket Office at 1-800-IA-HAWKS or visit hawkeyesports.com to place your season ticket order.