Hawkeyes Fall to No. 25 Purdue

Stats | Boxscore

Nov. 23, 2013

Final Stats

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The University of Iowa volleyball team concluded its weekend with a 3-1 loss to No. 25 Purdue on Saturday night. The Hawkeyes drop to 2-16 in Big Ten action and 11-19 overall with the loss, while the Boilermakers even their conference record 9-9 and move to 18-11 overall.

Iowa opened the first set by scoring a pair of points, one with an Erin Radke kill, for a lead, but the Boilermakers recovered outscoring the Hawkeyes 5-1 to pull ahead. An Alex Lovell kill, an Erin Leppek kill, and an Alyssa Klostermann service ace followed, allowing Iowa to go up once again 6-5. Purdue used a pair of runs, one for three points and one for eight, to seize the momentum and close out the first set, 25-18.

The Hawkeyes established a 2-0 advantage once again in the second set with Rachael Bedell and Emily Yanny kills. The Boilermakers came back to knot the match 2-2 and from there the teams battled back and forth through three ties before Purdue used a 5-0 run to jump ahead. The Boilermakers controlled the remainder of the set and recorded a 25-18 win.

In the third set, Iowa and Purdue fought through 10 ties and four lead changes before the Hawkeyes emerged as the victor 25-21. The Hawkeyes opened the set with a Lovell kill and used a Bedell kill to keep a slight advantage 3-2. Four ties followed before Purdue used a 7-3 stretch to pull ahead 14-10.

Iowa responded with a five-point run, keyed by a pair of Bedell kills and a Yanny and Bedell block, and a three-point surge, led by a pair of Radke kills and one kill from Lovell, to pull ahead 18-15. Purdue fought back to tie the set once again 19-19, but the Hawkeyes handled the pressure using kills from Lovell, Leppek, and Bedell and a Klostermann ace to take the third set 25-21. Iowa outhit Purdue .342 to .333 in the set.

Purdue recorded the 3-1 match win with a 25-21 set four victory. The Boilermaker offense outhit the Hawkeyes .333 to .172.

Bedell and Lovell led the Hawkeye offense with 13 kills each, while Leppek hit a team-best .429. Yanny posted a team-high six blocks, including one solo stuff, which marks a season-high. Nikki Dailey dished out 23 assists and posted 11 digs for a double-double, and Bethany Yeager recorded a team-most 13 digs.

Iowa ends the regular season with a pair of matches on Mediacom Court in Carver-Hawkeye Arena next week. The Hawkeyes take on Nebraska on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and Ohio State on Saturday, Nov. 30.

All fans can attend the match against Nebraska free of charge. The Ohio State match will be Senior Night for Bedell, Grace Burns, Dailey, and Yeager. Saturday’s match will also be shown live on Mediacom channel MC22.