Hawkeyes' Rally Falls Short at Michigan State

EAST LANSING, Mich. – University of Iowa volleyball eyed a reverse sweep, but fell in five sets to Michigan State inside the Breslin Center on Friday night. The Hawkeyes dropped to 10-7 overall and 1-4 in the Big Ten.

Freshman Carmel Vares led the team with 13 kills, while graduate Chard’e Vanzandt contributed 12. Vanzandt also added a team-high three aces. Redshirt freshman Hallie Steponaitis blasted a career-high 11 kills in the defeat. Senior setter Claire Ammeraal picked up her fourth double-double, racking up 43 assists and 10 digs. She also nailed eight kills.

Sophomore Aleksandra Stojanovic tallied seven kills on 14 swings and hit a team-high .429. The native of Belgrade, Serbia, added six digs. Fellow middle hitter Hannah Whittingstall converted on 7-of-18 attacks. She led the team with seven blocks. Senior libero Milana Moisio had 14 digs and recorded four assists.

Michigan State had more kills, 67-58. The Hawkeyes were out-hit, .293 to .245. The Spartans won the battle from the service line. Michigan State had eight aces and five errors. Iowa had three aces and nine errors.

MATCH SUMMARY
SET ONE (MICHIGAN STATE 25-20)
Vanzandt opened the match with a kill for the Hawkeyes. The Spartans rattled off three points in a row to take a 3-1 lead. Vares’ first kill pulled Iowa within two at 5-3. Steponaitis got in on the action with her first kill, Iowa trailed by one at 6-5. Whittingstall found the floor on a tip to tie the set at 6-6. Michigan State used a kill and back-to-back aces to lead 9-6. Vares stopped the Spartan run with a kill down the line. Iowa’s first run of the night tied the set at 9-9 after a block from Whittingstall and Ammeraal. Ammeraal gave Iowa its first lead of the night with a kill. The middle points remained tight with both teams going back and forth. A Michigan State kill gave the Spartans the lead at 13-12. A Vanzandt kill stopped another Spartan run, with Michigan State leading 14-13. At the media timeout, Michigan State led 15-13. A Vanzandt kill kept the Hawkeyes in striking distance, with Michigan State leading 17-15. The Spartans answered with their own kill to go up 18-15. Stojanovic’s second kill brought Iowa within two at 18-16. Iowa’s middles got active late in the set with a Whittingstall kill and block from Whittingstall and Steponaitis got Iowa within one. Michigan State called a timeout at 19-18. The Spartans won the race to 20 with a kill out of the timeout. Steponaitis responded by drilling a kill. Iowa called a timeout trailing 22-19. Vanzandt responded with a solo block, shutting down the Michigan State offense on the next point. An Iowa error gave Michigan State set one. Iowa (.267) recorded a better hitting percentage than Michigan State (.235), but could not win the set.

SET TWO (MICHIGAN STATE 25-15)
Two errors from Iowa opened the second set. Vanzandt reached high and tooled a shot off the block on the next point. Iowa dug itself into a hole with two more errors, giving the Spartans a 4-1 lead. Vares got active with a kill as Iowa tried to hang in the set. Stojanovic stopped a Spartan run from the middle, Michigan State leading 8-4. The Spartans won the race to 10 and Iowa called a timeout to slow their momentum. With a crafty setter dump, Ammeraal cut Michigan State’s lead in half at 12-6. A 3-0 run from the Spartans was halted by a Whittingstall kill. Ammeraal terminated on two to cut Michigan State’s lead in half at 16-8. Iowa knocked down two kills out of a timeout, as Michigan State led 19-10. Trailing 20-11, Iowa attempted a comeback. A triple block from the Hawkeyes cut into the Spartans lead at 20-12. Back-to-back blocks from the Hawkeyes gave them life late in the set at 23-15. Michigan State shut down the comeback effort with a pair of kills to close out the second set.

SET THREE (IOWA 25-23)
Vares picked up her fifth kill to tie the third set at 1-1. Ammeraal went right back to Vares who tooled it off the block to give Iowa the 2-1 lead. A 3-0 run from Iowa forced a Michigan State timeout. Iowa had a 4-1 lead, its largest of the night. Iowa continued to feed Vares with her third kill of the set putting the Hawkeyes up 5-2. Michigan State misfired on a rare attacking error and helped the Hawkeyes sideout at 6-3. The Spartans responded with a 4-0 run to regain the lead at 7-6. Whittingstall painted the back corner to re-tie the set. Ammeraal and Stojanovic teamed up to stuff an attack, giving Iowa the 8-7 lead. Vanzandt dented the floor from the left side to tie the set at 9-9. Going back and forth, Michigan State won back-to-back points and Iowa called a timeout at 13-11. Out of the timeout, Steponaitis terminated from the outside. The set was tied 15-15 after a Spartan error. Ammeraal remained impactful from the front, with another kill to give back the lead to Iowa at 16-15. Neither team was able to find much separation, going point-for-point through the middle of the set. With its back against the wall, Iowa needed to find a spark. Vares picked up a tip kill and Vanzandt served Iowa’s first ace of the night to lead 19-17 and force a Michigan State timeout. Vanzandt picked up another ace after the timeout to win the race to 20. Steponaitis had back-to-back kills off the block, pushing Iowa closer to 25. Iowa called a timeout at 22-21 after a service error and Spartan service ace brought them within one. Ammeraal went back to Steponaitis for the kill, building Iowa’s lead to 23-21. A Michigan State error gave Iowa a set point at 24-22. The Spartans would fend off one set point before Vanzandt sealed the set for the Hawkeyes.

SET FOUR (IOWA 25-21)
Michigan State hit one wide to tie the set at 1-1. Steponaitis powered a cross-court kill to the floor for her eighth kill to keep the set tied. Ammeraal put the ball away on two to knot up the set at 3-3. Vanzandt soared for her ninth kill, but neither team found much rhythm. Both teams traded kills through the opening points of the match. After ten straight sideouts, Michigan State was able to put together a 4-0 run and lead 11-7. Iowa rallied with a kill and benefited from a Spartan service error to get within two at 12-10. Ammeraal terminated another point for the Hawkeyes, but Iowa trailed 12-11. A 5-1 run from the Hawkeyes tied the set before a successful Iowa challenge gave Iowa the lead at 13-12. Both teams found their offensive footing and traded kills. A free ball kill from Vares gave the Hawkeyes the lead at 16-15. Vanzandt responded with another ace to give Iowa a two-point advantage. Iowa won the race to 20 off a block from Steponaitis and Whittingstall, forcing a Michigan State timeout. Two kills from Vanzandt and a termination from Stojanovic gave the Hawkeyes a set point at 24-19. The Spartans fought off two set points before an attack error gave the Hawkeyes the set and tied the match at 2-2.

SET FIVE (MICHIGAN STATE 15-7)
The Spartans responded with a strong 3-0 start. Stojanovic from the middle got the Hawkeyes on the board. Another triple block from Iowa stonewalled a Spartan attack and kept Iowa within one at 3-2. The Spartans terminated three kills in a row to lead 6-2. Vares put an attack away on the right side to cut the lead in half. At the break, Michigan State led 8-3 with all the momentum. Iowa would be unable to find a run to get back into the set, as Michigan State continued to score from all positions. A service ace from the Spartans brought up match point. Two match points were saved due to Spartan errors. A Michigan State kill ended the match.

Up Next: Iowa battles Michigan in Ann Arbor on Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m. (CT). The match will be streamed on B1G+ and broadcast on the Hawkeye Radio Network.