Iowa Falls at Northwestern

Stats | Boxscore

Oct. 21, 2012

Box Score

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa volleyball team fell in straight sets at Northwestern on Sunday afternoon (22-25, 18-25, 15-25). The match was shown live on BTN, marking Iowa’s first of two-straight BTN contests.

The win improves the Wildcats’ record to 14-7 overall and 3-7 in Big Ten play; the Hawkeyes fall to 10-13 and 2-8 in league action.

Rachael Bedell notched a match-best 12 kills. The junior has posted double-digit kills in each of the last six matches.

“Rachael had a great match,” said head coach Sharon Dingman. “She is trying to makes things happen and mixes it up. She really tries hard to score points for this team.”

Bethany Yeager turned in a team-high 11 digs, eclipsing the 1,400 mark in her career with 1,410. The junior ranks fifth all-time in program history. Nikki Dailey notched a team-best 27 assists. Redshirt freshman Alli O’Deen added a career-best two kills to go along with seven digs.

“AO (O’Deen) did a great job,” said Dingman. “She came in and gave us a good lift. She played great defense.”

The Hawkeyes grabbed an early 6-5 lead in the opening frame. The Wildcats responded with a 6-3 run to earn an 11-9 advantage. Two-straight Iowa points evened the set up at 11-11. Trailing 21-17, the visitors rattled off four-straight points to even the game up at 21-21. Bedell sparked the Hawkeye run with a kill and a service ace. The home team answered, scoring four of the final five points to claim the opening set. Bedell paced Iowa with six kills. Northwestern hit .286, limiting the Hawkeyes to a .194 attack percentage.

The visitors ran out to a 7-3 lead in the second frame. The Wildcats used a 7-3 run of their own to even the set up at 10-10. Northwestern grabbed its first lead of the frame at 11-10 and scored 14 of the final 22 points to win the set, 25-18, and take a 2-0 match lead. The Wildcats hit .211 and limited the Hawkeyes to a -.021 attack percentage. Dailey equaled a set-high with nine assists. Yeager and O’Deen posted five digs.

Following the intermission, Northwestern opened the third game with a 6-3 lead. Following a 3-0 Iowa run to even the score at 6-6, the home team used a 4-0 run to regain the advantage at 10-6. The Wildcats extended their lead to six at 18-12, forcing an Iowa timeout. Northwestern captured seven of the final 10 points to win the set, 25-15, and the match, 3-0. The home team registered a .320 hitting percentage in the final frame, limiting the visitors to a .000 attack percentage.

Iowa returns to action this week in Iowa City, hosting top-ranked Penn State on Wednesday night and No. 20 Ohio State on Saturday night. Both matches will begin at 7 p.m. on Mediacom Court at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The Hawkeyes’ match against the Nittany Lions can be seen live on BTN.

“We have to serve and pass better,” said Dingman about the upcoming match against Penn State. “We have to serve more aggressively. We played well at Penn State. We need to have the right mindset and prepare hard.”