UI Volleyball Tops North Dakota in Straight Sets

Sept. 12, 2014

Box Score

By JIL PRICE
hawkeyesports.com

BROOKINGS, S.D. — The Hawkeye volleyball team recorded their second-straight sweep with a 3-0 victory over North Dakota on Friday night. Iowa remains undefeated in 2014 SDSU Challenge action (2-0) and moves to 6-2 on the season with the win.

“We were much sharper tonight,” head coach Bond Shymansky said. “Our passing game kept us in system so we were able to have good balance and keep their blockers off balance. We created a lot of seams and gaps. This is one of the first matches where we thought we got a great contribution from all of our hitters.”

North Dakota took a slight lead early, but the Hawkeyes used a four-point run — spurred on by an Alex Lovell kill and two from Taylin Alm — to pull ahead 6-3. The Hawkeyes, who posted an efficient .419 hitting percentage in the set, never trailed from there and recorded a 25-21 set one win.

Iowa never trailed en route to its 25-21 second set win. Lovell paced the offense with a five kill effort and .444 hitting percentage, while Alessandra Dietz contributed four kills with a dominant .800 hitting percentage.

The teams fought for control of the third set, which contained 13 ties and two lead changes. The Hawkeyes came out on top, securing the set by a score of 25-23 and the sweep 3-0.

Lovell led the final push, recording six of her 18 total kills in the final set. She added 10 digs to earn her first double-double of the season. Alyssa Klostermann also earned her first double-double of 2014 with 29 assists and 10 digs. Michelle Fugarino paced the Hawkeyes with 15 digs.

Also reaching double figures in kills was Lauren Brobst, who posted a .389 hitting percentage in the contest. Posting percentages above of .400 and above were Dietz (.400) and Mikaela Gunderson (.429). Alm hit .389 with seven kills.

Iowa concludes 2014 SDSU Challenge action with a pair of Saturday matches. The Hawkeyes challenge Florida International at 10 a.m. (CT) and tournament host South Dakota State at 7 p.m. Links to live video and live stats are available for each contest at hawkeyesports.com.