EVANSTON, Ill. – University of Iowa volleyball fell to Northwestern, 3-0, Sunday afternoon in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
The Hawkeyes were led by junior Delaney McSweeney who hit at a clip of .333 in the match. Sophomore Michelle Urquhart and redshirt senior Lily Tessier led the team with 14 kills and 24 assists, respectively.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET 1 (NU, 26-24): Iowa opened the set strong with three straight points. Northwestern was able to get a couple of points, but two kills from Urquhart put the Hawkeyes up 5-3. Both teams were battling as McSweeney was able to get a few kills to extend the Iowa lead, 9-6. An ace by the Wildcats tied the set at 10. The Hawkeyes took their first timeout as Northwestern took a 12-10 lead. The Wildcats were able to keep control of the set from there. Iowa took their second timeout of the set with the Northwestern lead at six. The Hawkeyes were able to get four straight points to get the score to 22-20. Northwestern took a timeout with their lead down to one, 23-22. The Wildcats got to set point, but Iowa answered back and tied it at 24 with an ace from senior Amiya Jones. Back-to-back kills secured the set for Northwestern.
SET 2 (NU, 25-23): The second set opened evenly matched between the two teams with ties at points one through six. An ace from Tessier put the Hawkeyes up 8-6, the biggest lead for either team thus far. The Hawkeyes and Wildcats were going back-and-forth as the score remained close. Iowa took a timeout as Northwestern took a two-point lead, 14-12. Iowa tied the set at 18 with three straight points, and the Wildcats took their first timeout. Back-to-back kills from Urquhart gave Iowa the 20-19 lead. Northwestern retook the lead on a block to make it 21-20. A sneaky kill form Jones tied it the set at 22. The Hawkeyes took a timeout with Northwestern at set point. The Wildcats closed out the set on a kill to go up in the match 2-0.
SET 3 (NU, 25-21): To open the third set, the teams were exchanging points. Iowa took the lead, 5-4, after a 3-0 run. Northwestern had a strong response with six straight of their own to take a 10-5 lead. The Hawkeyes answered back with another run of four straight including two aces off the hand of Jones. A big block from senior Edina Schmidt and McSweeney got Iowa within one, 12-11. Northwestern was able to capitalize on Hawkeye errors to extend their lead to four. Iowa took a timeout after back-to-back kills by the Wildcats to make it 18-13. Urquhart brought Iowa within four after two straight kills. An ace from redshirt-freshman Sydney Dennis made it 23-20 and the Wildcats took a timeout. Northwestern was able to secure the match victory on a kill.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes road slate continues as they travel to New Brunswick, N.J. to take on Rutgers on Friday Nov. 4. First serve in Jersey Mike’s Arena is set for 6 p.m. CT and will be streamed on B1G+ (subscription required).
