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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa volleyball team swept Northern Illinois, 3-0, on Friday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in the opening match of the Iowa Invitational.
FIGHT FOR IOWA
Freshman Claire Sheehan racked up a personal-best seven kills, a career-high .438 attack percentage, three aces, five digs, and a block for Iowa.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 (25-15) | After a back-and-forth start to the set, the Hawkeyes found their rhythm. The score was knotted at 14-14 when a Kelsey O’Neill kill sparked an 11-1 run, securing a 1-0 match lead for Iowa.
Set 2 (25-15) | Trailing 3-4, Iowa went on a 15-5 run to take the lead before clinching the set. Sheehan led the Hawkeyes with four kills and an ace.
Set 3 (25-11) | Iowa dominated set three, jumping out to an early lead before going on a 20-4 run. Back-to-back kills by Cali Hoye and Meghan Buzzerio secured the match sweep for the Hawkeyes.
HEAR FROM COACH SHYMANSKY
“Great performance by our group this afternoon. We had a little bit of a slow start, but then we got it rolling and got our hitting efficiency to a .355 by the end. The best part is getting contribution from everybody. It’s really a good sign for us as a program when we can have people coming in and contributing and actually making a positive impact. I thought Taylin Alm did a fantastic job in the right side spot. Kasey Reuter came off the bench and sparked us in a good way. Claire Sheehan was good in that left side spot. Ashley Smith came off the bench and did some nice things for us in the back row. I liked the rhythm that our team established. I know that it was easy to be distracted for the Iowa State match tonight, but I thought we kept our focus really well.”
NOTABLES
- Iowa is now 8-5 all-time against NIU.
- Brie Orr had a personal-best nine digs and a career-high six blocks.
- Kelsey O’Neill had a personal-high .462 attack percentage and a career-best seven blocks.
- Iowa had season-bests in attack percentage (.355) and team blocks (11).
RECORDS UPDATE
- Iowa: 7-1
- NIU: 0-8
NEXT UP
Iowa takes on Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk series foe No. 22 Iowa State tonight at 7 p.m. (CT) in a Black Out match at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
