Iowa Tops Maryland in 5 Set Thriller

Nov. 26, 2014

Box Score

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa volleyball outlasted Maryland (9-21, 2-17) in five sets on Mediacom Court in Carver-Hawkeye Arena Wednesday afternoon. The Hawkeyes are now 3-1 in five set matches this season and 8-1 in matches lasting four sets or more.

The victory improves Iowa to 14-16 overall and 6-13 in Big Ten action. The team’s six conference wins is the most for the program since 2008 when the Hawkeyes ended the season with a 6-14 mark.

“It was a great team effort by our group tonight and great to get our sixth conference win in Big Ten play,” head coach Bond Shymansky said. “To do it in a hair-raising fashion in five sets, you could see it was a total roller coaster for us the whole time.

“We did great the first set, awful the next two, great the fourth and then it was a nail biter to the end, but we really rode a couple of players there to victory. I’m glad our passing and serving came back around. It was really the difference in the match.”

The Hawkeyes took advantage of early Terrapin miscues and used kills from Alessandra Dietz and Mikaela Gunderson to establish a 9-5 lead early in the opening set, and never surrendered it en route to their 25-18 win. Lauren Brobst came on strong late in the set, recording four kills and a .667 attack percentage to lead Iowa.

After dropping the second and third sets to Maryland 25-18 and 25-15, Iowa recovered with a 25-15 fourth set victory to force a fifth, deciding set. Brobst was on fire early, terminating five-straight to give the team a 5-1 advantage. The Hawkeyes went on to lead by as much as 11 before recording the final win.

Both teams grappled through eight tie scores in the fifth set before the Hawkeyes could win the match 3-2 with a 17-15 victory. The Terrapins were up 10-7, but Iowa used a four-point run fueled by a Julianne Blomberg service ace and two Brobst kills to pull ahead. Maryland fought back and tied it four more times, but the Hawkeyes ended the match with a Terrapin service error and Blomberg kill.

Brobst paced the Hawkeye offense and matched her career-high with 23 kills and posted a .250 attack percentage in the match. Michelle Fugarino earned a career-high with 29 digs. Kaylee Smith dished out a team-high 30 assists, while Brobst and Dietz led the team with three blocks apiece.

Iowa concludes the regular season against Michigan State on Friday at 7:30 p.m. It is Senior Night and Fan Appreciation Night. Fans with an Iowa vs. Nebraska football ticket stub will receive free admission. The senior class of Dietz, Erin Leppek, Alex Lovell, Kari Mueller and Emily Yanny will be recognized prior to the match.