Hawkeyes Fall at No. 10 Purdue

Nov. 10, 2011

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The University of Iowa volleyball team dropped a five-set decision to 10th-ranked Purdue tonight inside Halloway Gym (22-25, 22-25, 25-15, 25-15, 15-6). Freshmen Alex Lovell and Emily Yanny combined for 27 kills against the Boilermakers and sophomore Nikki Dailey added her 12th double-double of the season with 40 assists and 18 digs. Yanny’s 11 kills were a career high against Big Ten opponents.

“We have to be able to kill the ball to stop long rallies,” said head coach Sharon Dingman. “We get into situations where we should be able to finish an attack, but the ball got away from us. The first two sets went well, but Purdue was the better team the last three sets. But there were still things we can be proud of. We showed a lot of fight and didn’t give up. There is no give up in this team.”

Iowa grabbed a 2-0 match advantage with identical 25-22 wins in sets one and two.

The Hawkeyes took advantage of a late wave of Purdue miscues and used four kills from Lovell to win the opening set. Lovell pancaked a pair of kills in the middle of a 4-0 run to help Iowa grab a 10-9 lead and would later slam a cross court attack to give Iowa a 20-19 advantage. Purdue then used a kill to square the match, 20-20, before a string of five Boilermaker errors propelled Iowa to the 1-0 match advantage. The Hawkeyes totaled 12 kills in the frame, including four by Lovell and three by Megan Eskew, and picked up 26 digs.

The Iowa momentum continued early in the second frame. A pair of kills from Mallory Husz and a kill and service ace from Yanny helped Iowa grab a 5-2 lead. After Purdue rallied and built a 16-14 edge, the Hawkeyes used another pair of Boilermaker errors and a kill from Husz to tie the set, 17-17. Purdue then created some distance from Iowa, building a 21-18 advantage, before Iowa answered a Dingman timeout by scoring seven of the final eight points. Husz recorded a kill to tie the frame, 22-22, and gave Iowa a one-point lead with a stuffed block. Lovell’s third kill of the frame then forced Iowa’s set-point, 24-22, before another block from Husz sealed the 25-22 victory.

Iowa threatened to sweep the Boilermakers, grabbing leads of 8-5 and 14-13 in the third frame, but Purdue ran away from a 15-15 tie with 10 straight points to win set three, 25-15. The Boilermakers then built an early 10-3 advantage in the fourth set and eventually held on for another 25-15 decision to force a decisive set five.

The final frame opened with an Eskew kill, her eighth of the match, but Purdue regained control and Blair Bashen served the Boilermakers to 11 straight points to grab control of the frame, 11-1. Purdue eventually held on for the 15-6 win to complete the rally and end the match.

Iowa returns to the court Saturday at Indiana. The Hawkeyes and Hoosiers meet at 7 p.m. inside U-Gym. Ian Martin, the voice of Iowa volleyball, will broadcast the match live on Hawkeye All-Access. The game will also be televised on a tape delay Sunday at 3 p.m. (CT) on BTN.