Iowa Tops No. 12 Purdue, Earns 4th Consecutive B1G Win

Nov. 8, 2014

Box Score

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa defeated its first ranked opponent and stretched its Big Ten win streak to four-straight matches with a 3-1 victory over No. 12-ranked Purdue Saturday night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. It’s the first win for the program against the Boilermakers since 2012, when the Hawkeyes recorded a 3-0 sweep.

“It feels so good to win and we are so excited for our group,” first-year head coach Bond Shymansky said. “You can feel the emotion, and we told them at the beginning that we need the emotion pendulum to start swinging inside of our program. You need to feel really bad when you lose so you feel really good when you win. We are believing, and I love the team that we’re becoming.”

With the victory, Iowa improves to 13-12 overall and 5-9 in conference play. The team’s 5-9 record puts the Hawkeyes in a four-way tie for ninth in Big Ten standings. It is the first time Iowa has earned five wins in a conference season since 2009, when the team went 5-15.

“It feels really good,” Julianne Blomberg said. “Before we had all the parts, everyone had the skill and the drive to win, but it was hidden behind a bunch of layers. We just needed a direction to push toward, and we’ve figured out how to funnel that energy towards that. It’s really awesome to see it all come together.”

The Hawkeyes used a pair of Lauren Brobst kills and an Alessandra Dietz service ace to establish an early advantage in the opening set. Iowa never surrendered its lead, hitting .440 en route to its dominant 25-16 win. Brobst and Dietz hit a perfect 1.000 in the set with four and three kills, respectively, to lead the team, while Blomberg contributed two kills and a .667 attack percentage.

Iowa started hot in the second set using a pair of Blomberg service aces and a Dietz and Brobst combination block to fuel a five-point run. The Boilermakers worked their way back into the set, knotting the score at 18-18. Three additional tie scores followed before the Hawkeyes used consecutive kills by Brobst to secure the 25-23 victory.

After dropping the third set to Purdue 25-23, the Hawkeyes bounced back with a 25-19 third set win to solidify their 3-1 victory over the Boilermakers. Brobst continued to terminate for the Hawkeyes, adding four kills on seven swings, while Blomberg and Taylin Alm recorded three kills apiece.

Brobst paced the Iowa offense with a 22-kill performance, one shy of matching her career-high. Reaching double digits in digs were Blomberg (18), Michelle Fugarino (15) and Kari Mueller (10), while Mikaela Gunderson led the blocking front with four in the match. Setter duo Kaylee Smith and Alyssa Klostermann dished out 25 and 18 assists, respectively, in the win.

Iowa continues Big Ten play at Penn State on Wednesday, and returns home for a contest against Wisconsin Saturday.