Iowa Takes B1G Road Trip to Ohio State, Penn State

Sept. 30, 2015

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THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa volleyball team continues its road trip with a pair of contests against nationally ranked opponents on Friday and Saturday. The Hawkeyes travel to Columbus, Ohio, to take on the No. 13 Buckeyes on Oct. 2, before heading to University Park, Pennsylvania, to take on the No. 1 Nittany Lions on Oct. 3.

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. Live stats are also available for each contest. Links can be found on the volleyball schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.

WATCH
Both matches will be streamed live online via 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.

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 third straight week, Iowa is receiving votes (7) in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 Poll, released on Sept. 28. Thirteen of Iowa’s 2015 opponents also appear in the poll. No. 1 Penn State, No. 4 Nebraska, No. 7 Illinois, No. 10 Hawaii, No. 11 UCLA, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 16 Minnesota, No. 18 Purdue, No. 19 Wisconsin, No. 23 Michigan are ranked within the top 25, while Pacific, Michigan State and Iowa State are receiving votes.

A POWERHOUSE CONFERENCE
Ten Big Ten teams are included in the AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25 Poll, released on Sept. 28. No. 1 Penn State, No. 4 Nebraska, and No. 7 Illinois appear in the Top 10, while No. 13 Ohio State, No. 16 Minnesota, No. 18 Purdue, No. 19 Wisconsin, and No. 23 Michigan also made the list. Michigan State (9) and Iowa (7) are receiving votes in the poll.

ALL-TIME SERIES- OHIO STATE
• Ohio State leads Iowa, 57-9, all-time.
• Iowa and Ohio State first played each other on Oct. 28, 1977.
• The Hawkeyes last defeated the Buckeyes on Oct. 26, 2008, in four sets (25-23, 19-25, 25-15, 25-22).

ALL-TIME SERIES- PENN STATE
• Iowa has yet to defeat Penn State, as the Nittany Lions lead the all-time series, 48-0
• Iowa and Penn State first played each other on Oct. 18, 1991.
• The Hawkeyes last won a set against the Nittany Lions on Sept. 22, 2012. Iowa fell in four sets (20-25, 21-25, 29-27, 14-25)

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 fifth in the conference in assists, averaging 13.27 assists per set this season.
• The Hawkeyes are sixth in the Big Ten in hitting percentage. In 15 matches this season, Iowa is hitting .265.
• The Hawkeyes average 1.23 aces per set, the sixth-best average in the Big Ten.

IN THE BIG TEN – INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
• Junior Loxley Keala leads the conference in total assists (595).
• Sophomore Annika Olsen ranks second in the Big Ten in total digs with 245.
• Keala has the third-best assist per set average in the Big Ten. The junior owns an 11.44 average.
• Olsen is averaging 4.71 digs per set, the third-best average in the conference.
• Junior Lauren Brobst is fourth in the Big Ten in total kills (191).
• Junior Lauren Brobst ranks fifth in the conference in points (210.5).

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
• Junior Loxley Keala‘s 11.44 assists per set average ranks 14th nationally.
• The Hawkeyes rank 21st nationally in assists per set average (13.27).
• Iowa’s .265 hitting percentage ranks 29th nationally.
• The Hawkeyes rank 32rd nationally in kills per set, averaging 13.96 in 15 matches this season.
• Keala is ranked 37th nationally in total assists (595).

CLOSE TO HOME
Jess Janota is an Ohio native. Her hometown of Concord, Ohio, is about two and a half hours away from Columbus, Ohio. The sophomore is averaging 3.02 kills per set in 15 matches this season. She also owns a .313 hitting percentage.

8 STRAIGHT
The Hawkeyes won eight straight matches from Sept. 6-19 — 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).

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.

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 return to Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a pair of Big Ten matches next week. The Hawkeyes host No. 23 Michigan on Wednesday, Oct. 7, before hosting Michigan State on Oct. 10.