Hawkeyes Fall to No. 10 Gophers, 3-1

Stats | Boxscore

Oct. 12, 2012

Box Score

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision to 10th-ranked Minnesota on Friday night (24-26, 25-18, 15-25, 17-25). The match was played on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“I thought we competed hard,” said head coach Sharon Dingman. “Minnesota came out after the intermission really aggressive and determined. Early on we matched their aggressiveness and made some plays, but in the last two sets we couldn’t slow them down.”

The Hawkeyes hit .300 and totaled 15 kills in the opening set, but couldn’t get over the hump and dropped a 26-24 decision. Kills by Rachael Bedell, Alessandra Dietz and Chante’ Thompson helped Iowa rally for a late 23-22 lead, but Minnesota finished the set with a 4-1 run to grab a one-set advantage.

Iowa evened the match at one set apiece with a dominating 25-18 win in the second frame. The teams battled to a 15-15 tie before Deitz and Alex Lovell recorded back-to-back kills to spark a 10-3 rally. Deitz accounted for four of Iowa’s 13 kills in the frame and added a pair of blocks to limit the Gophers to a .029 hitting percentage.

With the match tied 1-1, Minnesota took control of the third set with an 8-3 run to start the frame. The Gophers pushed their lead to 15-7 before consecutive kills from Thompson, Erin Leppek and Bedell pulled Iowa within five, 15-10. Minnesota kept their distance from the Hawkeyes, pushing the score to 17-12 before eventually closing with an 8-3 run to earn a 25-15 win.

The Gophers finished the match with a 25-17 win in the fourth set. Minnesota jumped to an 8-3 advantaged and finished the frame with a .394 attack percentage to earn the final 3-1 match victory.

“We made some adjustments and made a few runs in that second set,” said Bedell, who recorded double-digit kills for the third straight match. “That’s how we were able to get the win. But they’re ranked No. 10 for a reason. They were able to reach a new level in the third and fourth sets and we weren’t able to match them. Tomorrow we’ll make some adjustments and try to find that next level.”

Bedell and Lovell led the Hawkeyes with 11 kills each. Bethany Yeager totaled 17 digs, Allison Straumann picked up a career-high 16 digs and Nikki Dailey dished 39 assists. Dailey added 12 digs to earn her 13th double-double of the season.

Iowa returns to action tomorrow night, hosting Wisconsin on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 7 p.m. The match can be seen live on BTN.com.