COLUMBUS, Ohio –The University of Iowa volleyball team fell, 3-0, in its second match against undefeated Ohio State on Saturday afternoon inside the Covelli Center.
The Hawkeyes had the Buckeyes on the ropes in the first two sets, falling 28-26 in set one and 29-27 in set two. Ohio State won the third set, 25-18.
Led by sophomore Edina Schmidt and freshman Audrey Black, who each recorded nine kills, Iowa posted a season-best .282 hitting percentage. Four Hawkeyes hit .286 or better and six different Hawkeyes recorded at least five kills.
Junior Courtney Buzzerio tallied a season-high 26 assists and sophomore Joslyn Boyer registered 20 digs – one shy of tying a career high and her second game with at least 20 digs this season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET 1 (Ohio State, 28-26): Iowa opened the set with a 5-1 lead and held a 12-9 lead, before the Buckeyes tied the set at 15 all. Leading 20-18 the Hawkeyes held the first set point, 24-23, after Black’s second kill of the set. Ohio State’s Vanja Bukilić answered with a kill of her own, before another Black kill gave Iowa another set point at 25-24. The Buckeyes responded again to tie the set at 25. Iowa faced a set point of their own to tie the game at 26, before Ohio State took the final two points.
SET 2 (Ohio State, 29-27): All square at eight, Ohio State went on a 3-0 run to force a Hawkeye timeout. Iowa responded to tie the set at 14, highlighted by an ace from junior Maddie Slagle and two kills from sophomore Blythe Rients. Iowa fell behind 23-19, but after a timeout, the Hawkeyes rallied back with a 6-1 run courtesy of kills by Rients, Schmidt and junior Amiya Jones to take a 25-24 lead. Owning three set points, Iowa couldn’t close the door to drop another nail-biter.
SET 3 (Ohio State, 25-18): Tied at seven, Iowa gave way to an 8-4 Buckeye run, forcing the Hawkeyes to call a timeout. Buzzerio and Jones recorded kills out of the break, but Iowa was forced to call a timeout, trailing 18-13. Out of the timeout, Schmidt recorded her ninth kill, but the Hawkeyes couldn’t shrink the gap beyond five points and fell in the third and final set.
HEAR FROM HEAD COACH VICKI BROWN
“We talked about our gameday focus and re-adjusting our routine. That was a big contributor to how we started in the first set.”
“This second match (of the weekend), we needed our offense to get in rhythm. We saw that in set one and two, but we have to keep working to maintain the standard.”
“We have to keep the focus wheel rolling and finish sets. We missed serves in the middle, which caused us to lose our lead and momentum heading into the last five points. Our passing line of Joslyn Boyer, Maddie Slagle, Leanne Lowry, and Edina Schmidt did a great job in both sets. They kept us in sets one and two.”
NOTABLES
- Iowa’s 13 attacking errors tied a season low.
- The Hawkeyes attacked at a .390 clip in the first set, recording 18 kills on 41 total attacks, with only four errors.
- Schmidt recorded six of her nine kills in the first set.
- In her second match this season, Amiya Jones recorded a season-high six kills.
- Junior defensive specialist Maddie Slagle made her first start of the season, recording four digs.
UP NEXT
Iowa will take on Rutgers Friday, Feb. 19 at 4 p.m. (CT) inside Xtream Arena in Coralville.