Nov. 8, 2013
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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The University of Iowa volleyball team fell to No. 9 Minnesota, 3-0, in the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis, Minn., on Friday night. During the match, setter Nikki Dailey became the 15th player in school history to reach the 1,000 career digs mark, and the 11th in school history to reach the 1,000 mark in two statistical categories, as she has 3,032 career assists.
With the loss, Iowa drops to 10-15 overall and 1-12 in Big Ten play. The Golden Gophers move to 22-4 overall and 10-3 in conference action following the win.
The Hawkeyes used kills from Alessandra Dietz and Alex Lovell, a Rachael Bedell service ace, and an Erin Leppek and Lauren Brobst block to battle with Minnesota through four ties and two lead changes early in set one. With the score favoring Iowa, 7-6, the Golden Gophers used a six-point run to pull ahead 12-7.
Minnesota would not surrender its lead from there en route to its 25-21 set one win, despite a late run from the Hawkeyes to cut the deficit down to three points. Bedell led the Hawkeye offense with four kills in set one, while Brobst hit a team-best .667 with two kills.
Iowa opened the second set with a Dietz kill to take a lead and from there went back-and-forth with the Golden Gophers once again. The teams played through six ties and a lead change in the first 16 points of the set, before Minnesota took control outscoring the Hawkeyes 7-1 to establish an advantage.
The Hawkeyes used a three-point run, fueled by a Dietz and Erin Radke block and a Lovell kill, to cut the deficit in half, but Minnesota tallied three points of its own to regain a six-point lead. The Golden Gophers held on to record the 25-18 second set win, outscoring Iowa 10-9 to close it out.
After falling behind 1-0 in the third set, the Iowa offense used kills from Bedell, Dietz, and Radke to jump ahead. Consecutive kills from Lovell, Radke, and Leppek followed, extending the Hawkeye lead to 6-2. Minnesota fought back cutting the deficit to one, but Iowa responded with a Bedell kill, a pair of Radke and Dietz blocks, and a Lovell kill to hold them off.
The Minnesota offense responded using a five-point drive to even the set, 13-13. Three ties followed before the Golden Gophers went on a 3-0 to go up 19-16. Iowa used kills from Brobst and Bedell to pull back within one, but Minnesota outscored the Hawkeyes 6-2 from there to close out the set, 25-20, and the match, 3-0.
Lovell and Bedell paced the Hawkeye offense earning 11 kills apiece, while Brobst posted a team-high .429 hitting percentage. Dietz recorded a team-high six blocks. Dailey dished out a team-most 18 assists, and Dailey and Lovell led the way with 11 digs each. With nine digs in the match, Bethany Yeager is now seven digs from tying and eight digs from breaking the Iowa school record for career digs of 1,931 currently held by Janet Moylan (1987-90).
The Hawkeyes continue its road trip with a match at No. 16 Wisconsin on Sunday, Nov. 10. The Big Ten Digital Network will cover the 1 p.m. CT competition. Fans can access the live feed at BTN.com or through the BTN2Go application.