Hawkeyes Begin Road Swing at No. 4 Nebraska

Sept. 25, 2015

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THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa volleyball team travels to Lincoln, Nebraska, to take on the Huskers on Saturday, Sept. 26. The Hawkeyes enter the match with a 10-4 record, while the nationally ranked Huskers are 10-1.

LISTEN/FOLLOW ALONG
Live audio is available on Hawkeye All-Access at hawkeyesports.com. Second-year play-by-play announcer Tim Keating will call the action alongside Nick Schuster. Live stats are also available for each contest. Links can be found on the volleyball schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.

WATCH
Saturday’s match will be streamed live online via HuskersNside. For more information visit www.huskers.com.

FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES
For an inside look at the Iowa Volleyball program and access to exclusive coverage, “like” University of Iowa Volleyball on Facebook and follow @IowaVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to follow the team’s live Twitter feed, @IowaVB_Live, for more frequent in-match tweets, statistics and more.

NATIONAL CHATTER
For the second straight week, Iowa is receiving 24 votes in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll, released on Sept. 21. Thirteen of Iowa’s 2015 opponents also appear in the poll. No. 1 Penn State, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 9 Illinois, No. 11 Hawaii, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 13 UCLA, No. 16 Wisconsin, No. 20 Purdue, No. 21 Minnesota, No. 22 Michigan, and No. 23 Pacific are ranked within the top 25, while Michigan State and Texas A&M are receiving votes. The Hawkeyes are also ranked No. 26 by PrepVolleyball.com.

ALL-TIME SERIES
?The Cornhuskers lead the Hawkeyes, 23-0, all-time.
?Iowa and Nebraska first played each other on Nov. 17, 1977.
?The Hawkeyes last won a set against Nebraska on Sept. 5, 1987. Iowa fell in four sets (6-15, 5-15, 17-15, 8-15).

ATTENDANCE RECORDS
Iowa has set two top 10 attendance marks this season. The Hawkeyes downed the Cyclones in front of the fifth largest crowd in program history (2,488) on Sept. 11, before hosting the nationally ranked Huskers on Sept. 23 in front of 2,447 fans — the sixth largest crowd in program history.

IN THE BIG TEN – TEAM RANKINGS
?Iowa ranks third in the conference in assists. The Hawkeyes are averaging 13.51 assists per set this season.
?The Hawkeyes are third in the Big Ten in hitting percentage. In 14 matches this season, Iowa is hitting .277.
?The Hawkeyes average 1.29 aces per set, the fifth-best average in the Big Ten.
?Iowa averages 14.20 kills per set, good enough for fifth in the conference.

IN THE BIG TEN – INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
?Junior Loxley Keala leads the conference in total assists (570).
?Keala has the second-best assists per set average in the Big Ten. The junior owns an 11.63 average, just behind Wisconsin’s Lauren Carlini (11.79).
?Junior Lauren Brobst ranks sixth in the conference in kills per set (3.73).
?Sophomore Annika Olsen is averaging 4.76 digs per set, the third-best average in the conference.

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
?Junior Loxley Keala‘s 11.63 assists per set average ranks eighth nationally.
?The Hawkeyes own the 10th-best assists per set average in the nation (13.51).
?Iowa’s .277 hitting percentage ranks 16th nationally.
?Keala is ranked 17th nationally in total assists (570).
?The Hawkeyes rank 23rd nationally in kills per set, averaging 14.20 in 14 matches this season.

8 STRAIGHT
The Hawkeyes won eight straight matches from Sept. 6-Sept. 19 — the longest streak for the program since 2006. Iowa defeated American, 3-1, at the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic on Sept. 6. The following weekend (Sept. 11-12), the Hawkeyes went 3-0 at the Comfort Suites Challenge with wins over Milwaukee (3-0), Iowa State (3-1), and No. 25 Texas A&M (3-1). Iowa continued it streak on Sept. 18-19, sweeping the Holiday Inn Hawkeye Challenge tournament field with wins over Gardner-Webb (3-0), Coastal Carolina (3-0, 3-0) and Drake (3-0).

HOLIDAY INN HAWKEYE CHALLENGE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Loxley Keala was named tournament MVP following the Holiday Inn Hawkeye Challenge on Sept. 18-19. The junior finished the weekend with 152 assists, averaging 12.67 assists per set. Senior Mikaela Gunderson and freshman Reagan Davey were both named to the all-tournament team. Gunderson hit .408 in four matches with 24 kills, while Davey notched 33 kills on the weekend, including a career-high 14 against Coastal Carolina on Sept. 19.

B1G SETTER OF THE WEEK
University of Iowa junior Loxley Keala was named Big Ten Conference Setter of the Week for her performance at the Comfort Suites Challenge on Sept. 11-12. It is the first conference honor of Keala’s career. The Kaneohe, Hawaii, native is the first Hawkeye to earn a Big Ten weekly award since Bethany Yeager was named defensive player of the week on Sept. 2, 2013. Keala is the first Hawkeye in program history to win a weekly setter award.

Keala posted 40-plus assists in all three matches that weekend, including a career-high 57 against No. 25 Texas A&M. She led the offense to back-to-back matches with a .300 or better attack percentage, including a season-high .379 against Iowa State and .303 versus Texas A&M. Keala tallied 154 assists and averaged 14 assists per set on the weekend.

A POWERHOUSE CONFERENCE
Ten Big Ten teams are included in the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll, released on Sept. 21. No. 1 Penn State, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 9 Illinois appear in the Top 10, while No. 12 Ohio State, No. 16 Wisconsin, No. 20 Purdue, No. 21 Minnesota, and No. 22 Michigan also made the list. Michigan State (33) and Iowa (24) are receiving votes in the poll.

HAWKEYES DOWN CYCLONES IN HISTORIC FASHION
In front of the fifth largest crowd in program history (2,488), the University of Iowa volleyball team trumped the Cyclones, 3-1, for the first time since Sept. 13, 1997. The Hawkeyes used a .379 attack percentage and a season-high 66 kills to defeat Iowa State in four sets. Sophomore Jess Janota paced the Hawkeye offense with a career-high 20 kills, while freshman Libby Koukol led the team with a career-high 18 digs.

DOWN GOES NO. 25
Iowa’s 3-1 victory over No. 25 Texas A&M on Sept. 12 marked the first ranked win for the Hawkeyes since defeating No. 12 Purdue, 3-1, on Nov. 8, 2014. Junior Loxley Keala led the Hawkeye offense with a career-high 57 assists, while junior Lauren Brobst paced the team in kills (17). Freshman Reagan Davey and senior Mikaela Gunderson each contributed four blocks.

BIG TEN NETWORK COVERAGE
The University of Iowa volleyball team competes live on the Big Ten Network (BTN) or BTN Plus 16 times this season. The Hawkeyes’ match against Wisconsin on Oct. 23 in Iowa City will be televised live on BTN. First serve is set for 7 p.m. (CT).

Fifteen Iowa matches will be shown via live stream online through BTN Plus. To see if your cable package gives you access to BTN Plus content, sign up for BTN Plus or learn more about it, visit btn2go.com.

ON THE RADIO
Eleven of Iowa’s 20 Big Ten Conference matches will air live on KXIC Radio this season. The first broadcast of the season is on Oct. 10 when the Hawkeyes host Michigan State at 7 p.m. (CT). Second-year play-by-play announcer Tim Keating will call the action. Audio for all of Iowa’s home and away matches is available online as part of the premium content package on Hawkeye All-Access at hawkeyesports.com.

ON DECK
The Hawkeyes continue their road trip next weekend with matches at Ohio State on Oct. 2 and Penn State on Oct. 3.