Hawkeye Rally Falls Short at Iowa State, 3-2

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Box Score

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AMES, Iowa — The University of Iowa volleyball team dropped a 3-2 decision at 18th-ranked Iowa State Friday night in its second match of the Iowa State Challenge (17-25, 13-25, 33-31, 25-19, 9-15). The visitors dropped the first two sets before winning the next two frames to force a final set. The Hawkeyes fall to 6-3 on the season.

“I am proud of our team,” said head coach Sharon Dingman. “We spent an awful lot of energy to put ourselves in a position to win. I thought we performed poorly this morning against Syracuse. To see us rally was nice and I thought we played pretty well. We gave it our best shot tonight; we just could not get kills in the fifth set.”

Senior Allison Straumann registered a career-best 11 digs. Junior Nikki Dailey notched her fifth double-double of the season, tallying 43 assists and 17 digs. Classmate Bethany Yeager added 17 digs. Three Hawkeyes recorded double-digit kills. Sophomore Alex Lovell and freshman Erin Radke led Iowa with 12 kills. Sophomore Alessandra Dietz turned in 10.

< p=””>Iowa State (5-3) claimed the opening set, 25-17. Iowa led 12-11, before a 6-0 Cyclone run gave the home team an 18-12 lead. Iowa State won seven of the final 12 points to earn the first set win. The Cyclones hit .286 with 14 kills while the Hawkeyes recorded 12 kills and a .049 attack percentage. Dietz led Iowa with four kills and two blocks. Lovell and Radke each notched three kills. Dailey registered a set-best 10 assists and Straumann turned in a set-high five digs.

The home team pushed their match advantage to 2-0 with a 25-13 second set victory. Iowa State ran out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back, hitting .414 in the frame. Dietz led the Hawkeyes for the second-straight set with three kills. Straumann recorded a team-best three digs.

In the third set, Iowa jumped out to a 5-1 lead, forcing a Cyclone timeout. Iowa State answered, forcing a Hawkeye timeout after tying the match at 11-11. Iowa scored the first two points out of the timeout before the Cyclones used a 3-0 run to grab their first lead of the match at 14-13. The in-state rivals went back-and-forth before Iowa took a 22-21 lead to force another Iowa State timeout. The Hawkeyes held set point at 24-23 before the Cyclones claimed the next two points to grab a 25-24 lead. Iowa held off the first of six Iowa State match points. With the game tied 31-31, the visitors won the final two points to earn a wild third set victory that saw 13 tie scores, 33-31. The Hawkeyes hit .254 in the frame while limiting the home team to a .217 attack percentage. Lovell recorded seven kills and Chante’ Thompson notched five. Radke added four kills as Iowa registered 19 in the set.

Iowa State led early in the fourth set, 8-5. The two teams went back-and-forth before the Hawkeyes grabbed their first lead at 14-13. Iowa extended its advantage to 20-15 with a 6-2 run. Leading 23-18, the Hawkeyes claimed two of the final three points to earn a 25-19 fourth set victory and even the match up at 2-2.

Iowa led the final set 4-2 before Iowa State used a 4-0 run to take a 6-4 lead. The Cyclones claimed four of the next five points to grab a 10-5 advantage. The two teams traded points before Iowa State eventually won the match with a 15-9 final set victory.

With the win, Iowa State evens up the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series at 2-2.

Iowa concludes action Saturday in the Iowa State Challenge. The Hawkeyes will face Eastern Washington at 4 p.m.