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DEKALB, Ill. — Senior Lauren Brobst registered 14 kills to lead the University of Iowa volleyball team to a 3-0 victory over DePaul on Saturday in NIU Invitational action. The Hawkeyes improve to 2-0 on the season with the win.
“It was a great team effort,” said UI head coach Bond Shymansky. “You could tell we got a little stale there at the end. It’s been a long day for us, but I like the 3-0 win. It gives us a chance to recover for tomorrow for a match against Northern Illinois.”
Brobst was dominate on the outside, pacing the Iowa offense with 14 kills. The senior hit.565 with just one error in 23 attempts.
“Brobst put on a clinic today,” said Shymansky. “Hitting .565; that’s a pretty good batting average. She did a great job of leading us. You can see she has such a confidence out there. You can’t just be comfortable. You have to be confident and be really aggressive. She’s willing to take it to the next level and pound away at the ball.”
After trading points early in set one, the Hawkeyes used a 6-1 run to establish a lead. Kills by seniors Ashley Mariani (2) and Keala (1) and junior Jess Janota (1) aided the rally and gave the Hawkeyes an 18-14 lead. They held on to the momentum from there. Sophomore Molly Kelly added a pair of aces late to help the Hawkeyes seal a, 25-18, set-one victory.
DePaul took an early, 8-5, lead in set two before the Iowa offense caught fire. The Hawkeyes used a 5-1 run behind kills from Keala (1), redshirt sophomore Kasey Reuter (2), and sophomore Reghan Coyle and a block assist from Mariani and Reuter. Iowa fought off a, 3-0, Blue Demon run late and hung on to win, 25-21.
With the third set tied at 14, the Hawkeyes used back-to-back kills by Mariani and Klostermann and a block by Brobst to take a 17-14 lead. The never lost the lead from there, going on to win the set, 25-22, and the match 3-0. The Hawkeyes hit .452 in the set. Redshirt freshman Meghan Buzzerio and Brobst registered five kills apiece, while Keala dished out 12 assists.
Buzzerio led the Iowa defense with 10 digs, Mariani tallied a team-high four blocks, and Keala dished out a team-leading 30 assists.
The Hawkeyes return to action tomorrow against Northern Illinois. First serve is set for 2 p.m. (CT). The game will be streamed live on ESPN3.