Nov. 24, 2014
Iowa vs Maryland/Michigan State Notes 
COMPETITION SUMMARY
The University of Iowa volleyball team plays its final home stand on Mediacom Court in Carver-Hawkeye Arena this week. The Hawkeyes face Maryland (9-20, 2-16) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. (CT) and Michigan State (16-13, 9-9) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. Friday’s match is Senior Night for five Hawkeyes — Alessandra Dietz, Erin Leppek, Alex Lovell, Kari Mueller and Emily Yanny. They will be recognized in a pregame ceremony.
PROMOTIONS
Wednesday is Night of Giving and fans will have the chance to win a $50 gift card to Hy-Vee. Two gift cards will be given away. Fans with ticket stubs from the Iowa vs. Nebraska football game can attend Friday’s match for free. It is Fan Appreciation Night and Senior Night. Hawkeye prize packs will be given away during the match, and the senior class will be honored prior to the contest.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can watch both matches live online through BTN Plus on btn2go.com. Play-by-play announcer Tim Keating will call the action. Gametracker (live stats) are available for each contest at hawkeyesports.com.
LINK UP WITH THE HAWKEYES
For an inside look at the Iowa Volleyball program and to access exclusive coverage, “like” University of Iowa Volleyball on Facebook and follow @IowaVolleyball on Twitter. Follow the team’s live Twitter feed, @IowaVB_Live, for more frequent in-match tweets, play-by-play, statistics and more.
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ALL-TIME
? Iowa leads Maryland, 1-0, all-time.
? The Hawkeyes defeated the Terrapins 3-0 in the first-ever meeting on Oct. 31, 2014, in College Park, Maryland.
? Michigan State leads Iowa, 43-24, all-time.
? Iowa last defeated the Spartans in Iowa City on Oct. 10, 2009, in straight sets (25-14, 25-15, 25-19). Michigan State was ranked No. 18 nationally at the time.
CAREER CLIMB
Senior Alessandra Dietz is tied for first all-time at Iowa with a .276 career attack percentage. She is even with Jen Barcus (2006) who recorded 304 kills, 82 errors and 804 total attacks in her career. Dietz enters the final week of her career with 610 kills, 189 errors and 1524 total attacks in three seasons. She is also 13th all-time with 269 career blocks, and two service aces (78) from entering Iowa’s top 20 career list (80).
Fellow senior Alex Lovell enters her final week ninth all-time with 1,276 career kills. She has appeared in 123-of-127 matches and 420-of-461 sets so far in her career.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE
There has been a significant increase in volleyball attendance in Carver-Hawkeye Arena from 2013 to 2014 and the Hawkeyes are fueled by the crowd’s support. Iowa has welcomed a crowd of more than 1,000 in seven of its eight home matches this season for an average of 1,442. In 2013, the Hawkeyes averaged 1,109 fans at home.
Iowa welcomed its fourth-largest crowd in program history (2,631) on Sept. 27 against Nebraska, and its 13th-largest crowd (1,723) on Oct. 4 against Penn State.
LOOKING BACK
Iowa fell to Michigan State 3-0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-18) on the road earlier this season on Oct. 11. The Spartans saw three — Chloe Reinig (11), Allyssah Fitterer (10) and Alyssa Garvelink (10) — reach double figures in kills and hit .348 as a team.
The Hawkeyes were led by Lauren Brobst offensively, who posted 13 kills, hit .444, and recorded three blocks in the match.
THE START OF A STREAK
The Hawkeyes swept Maryland (25-21, 25-17, 25-20) on the road in their first-ever meeting with the Terrapins on Oct. 31. A balanced offensive attack keyed the victory for Iowa. Taylin Alm led the way with nine kills, while Jess Janota and Julianne Blomberg each contributed seven kills. Blomberg (12), Kari Mueller (10) and Michelle Fugarino (10) all reached double digits in digs, while Mikaela Gunderson led the blocking front with five total in the match.
The victory was the first of Iowa’s four-match Big Ten win streak — the longest since the team recorded eight in a row and clinched a berth to the NCAA Tournament in 1994. The win also marked first-year head coach Bond Shymansky‘s 300th career victory.
B1G WINS
The Hawkeyes have five victories in Big Ten action with two conference matches remaining in the regular season. That is the most for the program since 2009, when Iowa posted a 5-15 record. Iowa recorded its first win at home against Northwestern on Oct. 18, outlasting the Wildcats in five sets. It was the first win for the program over Northwestern since Oct. 23, 2009, when Iowa swept the Wildcats in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
The Hawkeyes collected four Big Ten wins in a row — the longest conference win streak since 1994 when the team recorded eight consecutive victories and went on to clinch a berth to the NCAA Tournament – with a sweep of Maryland, a four set win over Rutgers, a five set victory against Indiana and a four set win over No. 12 Purdue. The victory against Purdue was the first ranked win for the program since 2012.
With a win over Maryland on Wednesday, Iowa will reach the six-win mark which has not happened since 2008 — Sharon Dingman’s first year as head coach. A win over Michigan State on Saturday would bring the team’s conference win total to seven, which would be the most for the program since 2000 when the Hawkeyes went 11-9 under head coach Rita Buck-Crockett.
SUCCESS IN 4 OR MORE
In matches lasting more than three sets, the Hawkeyes like their chances of securing a win. Iowa volleyball is 7-1 on the season in matches lasting four or five sets.
The squad is undefeated in four-set contests (5-0) this season, with victories over UT-San Antonio, Idaho State, Florida International, Rutgers and Purdue. Iowa is 2-1 in five-set competitions, with wins over Northwestern and Indiana. The lone loss in four or more sets came against Illinois (3-2).
CONFERENCE RANKINGS
? Iowa is 12th in the Big Ten standings with a record of 5-13 heading into the final week of the regular season. Maryland is 13th and Rutgers is 14th with 2-16 and 0-18 records, respectively.
? Senior Alessandra Dietz is seventh in the conference in service aces per set (0.28) and ninth in hitting percentage (.347).
? Junior Julianne Blomberg is 14th in service aces per set (0.23).
? Sophomore Alyssa Klostermann ranks 11th in service aces per set (0.25).
? Freshman Michelle Fugarino is seventh in digs per set and second among league freshmen (3.86).
? Freshman Kaylee Smith is 15th in assists per set (5.81).
300 WINS CLUB
First-year head coach Bond Shymansky earned his 300th career victory when the Hawkeyes completed their 3-0 sweep at Maryland on Oct. 31, and added to his win total the next night when the team defeated Rutgers, 3-1, on Nov. 1.
Shymansky has earned 13 of his 303 career victories at Iowa, 117 in five seasons at Marquette and 172 in seven seasons at Georgia Tech. He currently owns a 303-125 record and a .708 win percentage in 13 seasons as a head coach.
A NEW ERA
Bond Shymansky was named the ninth head coach of the Iowa volleyball program on Jan. 31, 2014. The UI alum and Iowa City, Iowa, native owns a career record of 303-125 (.708) amidst his 13th season.
Shymansky came to Iowa following five seasons (2009-13) at the helm of the Marquette volleyball program, where he guided the Golden Eagles to their first NCAA berth, NCAA victory, and first Big East regular season title. Marquette also won a Big East Tournament Championship, and made three-straight postseason appearances (2011-13).
Shymansky added associate head coach Michaela Franklin and assistant coach Jackie Simpson on Feb. 25, 2014 and completed his staff with the addition of director of operations Danielle Carlson.
#GREATTODAY
The Hawkeye volleyball program has been focused on one moniker since the arrival of head coach Bond Shymansky and his staff. Whether student-athletes are on the court, training in the weight room or learning in the classroom, the Hawkeyes want to be #GreatToday. A major shift in a program can be challenging, but striving for greatness in each area with exceptional effort has been helpful for the group.