Hawkeyes Fall to Northwestern on Senior Night

Nov. 21, 2015

Box Score

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa volleyball team fell to Northwestern in straight sets Saturday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. With the loss, the Hawkeyes fall to 12-19 overall and 2-16 in Big Ten action.

“We had a nice lead at the end of the first set, and when we didn’t close it out you could just tell it shook the momentum of the match,” said UI head coach Bond Shymansky. “It feels like we’re a continued work in progress. We showed such great signs in flashes, but not consistency.”

After trading points to start the first set, the Hawkeyes used a seven-point run to take a 20-16 lead. Freshman Libby Koukol served the run and added an ace, while junior Ashley Mariani (3) and freshman Reghan Coyle (2) added kills. The Wildcats stormed back; however, using a late five-point rally to ultimately win the set 25-23.

Northwestern used a 3-1 run to take a 19-17 lead in the second set and never looked back. The Wildcats registered five team blocks to hold the Hawkeyes to a .073 attack percentage to secure the 25-21 set victory and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Wildcats opened the third set on a five-point run and never trailed from there. The Hawkeyes used a 3-0 run to pull with one (15-14), but could not overcome the deficit as the Wildcats went on to win the set 25-18.

Junior Lauren Brobst led the team with 12 kills, while Coyle added a career-high 11, and Mariani registered 10. Junior setter Loxley Keala dished out a team-high 34 assists and a career-high five blocks. Sophomore Annika Olsen led the team in digs with 13, while senior Mikaela Gunderson paced the team with six blocks.

The Hawkeyes travel to College Park, Maryland, on Wednesday, Nov. 25. First serve is set for 6 p.m. (CT).