AMES, Iowa — University of Iowa volleyball fell to Drake, 3-1, Saturday afternoon at the Hilton Coliseum at the Cardinal and Gold Challenge. Sophomore Michelle Urquhart was named to the all-tournament team.
Outside hitter Urquhart and middle hitter Amiya Jones led the Hawkeyes, registering 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Redshirt senior Lily Tessier registered a season-high 52 assists, and senior Mari Hinkle tallied a career-high 34 digs to lead the team in each statistical category.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET 1 (Drake, 25-23): Drake opened the set with five-straight points. Back-to-back blocks by the Hawkeyes got Iowa in the set with the score at 5-3. Iowa capitalized on long rallies with big kills. The Hawkeyes got hot and went on a 9-0 scoring run to stretch their lead, 12-6. Drake started to chip away at the lead and with a successful challenge Iowa’s lead was cut to two with the score, 19-17. The Bulldogs took a, 21-20, lead and forced the Hawkeyes to take a timeout. After the timeout, points were exchanged, but Drake was able to close it out to secure the set victory.
SET 2 (Iowa, 25-22): The Hawkeyes came out strong to open the second set and took the, 7-2, lead and forced Drake to take a timeout. That did not slow Iowa down as they were able to go on a 3-0 run following the stoppage to extend its lead, 10-2. Urquhart recorded back-to-back aces to push the score to 13-4. Drake recorded four-straight points and forced the Hawkeyes to use a timeout with their lead at 17-10. Iowa didn’t let the timeout stop their momentum coming out and scoring three straight to get to 20. Drake was able to capitalize on a few Hawkeye errors and come within three at 22-19. Iowa took a timeout and was able to regroup and secure the second set victory.
SET 3 (Drake, 25-21): The two teams exchanged back and forth points to open the third set. The score was tied six times in the early moments of the set. The Hawkeyes took a timeout with Drake up, 12-8. Iowa came out of the time out to get three-straight kills to get within one. The Bulldogs did not relinquish the lead the rest of the set despite Iowa’s efforts to push back. Iowa had key kills from junior middle hitter Delaney McSweeney on three occasions to stay within one each time. Hinkle had a big dig to keep a rally alive that led to an attack error by the Bulldogs, tying the set at 21. Drake took a timeout and was able to close out the set on a 4-0 scoring run.
SET 4 (Drake 25-19): The fourth set opened with a few long rallies. The Bulldogs were in control of the lead throughout the whole set. Iowa took timeouts down, 12-,8 and then again down, 17-11. A block by Tessier and redshirt senior Jacqlyn Caspers, followed by an ace by Tessier, forced Drake to take a timeout up, 21-14. Caspers made an impact as soon as she came into the match recording three-straight kills. In the end, Drake was able to close out the set and secure the match victory.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes return home to Xtream Arena to host the Hawkeye Invitational. On Friday, Iowa will host South Dakota State at 12:30 p.m. CT and North Florida at 7 p.m. CT. On Saturday, Iowa hosts Northern Iowa at 2 p.m. CT. All Iowa matches will be streamed on B1G Network+ (subscription required).
