Hawkeyes Challenge Gophers in 5-Set Loss

CORALVILLE, Iowa – University of Iowa volleyball pushed 20th-ranked Minnesota to five sets, but ultimately fell on Sunday evening inside Xtream Arena. Iowa drops to an even 14-14 overall and 5-11 in the Big Ten.

The Hawkeyes claimed the opening set, 25-21. Minnesota won the next two sets, 25-19 and 25-18. Iowa forced a deciding fifth set with a 25-23 win in set four. The Hawkeyes are 4-9 in five-set matches. The 13 matches lead the NCAA.

Graduate Chard’e Vanzandt led Iowa with 22 kills. She added four digs, two assists and two aces. Freshman Carmel Vares tallied 15 kills and a team-high .312 hitting percentage. Redshirt sophomore Alyssa Worden recorded 12 kills with three blocks and two digs.

Freshman Makena Rumple made her second start of the season and finished with eight kills and one dig. Sophomore Aleksandra Stojanovic dropped four kills on 12 swings.

Senior Claire Ammeraal posted her 10th double-double of the season after a 49 assist and 10 dig effort. Ammeraal terminated six kills on 13 swings.

Libero Milana Moisio put together a solid match in the back row, digging 20 attacks and dishing five assists. Greta Schlichter had a season-high 10 digs.

Iowa and Minnesota had equal kills, 67-67. The Hawkeyes had the advantage in digs (58-54) and aces (6-2) and served fewer errors (10-8). The Golden Gophers outblocked Iowa, 16-5.5.

HEAR FROM HEAD COACH JIM BARNES
“We battled the 20th-ranked team and had our shot to beat them. We won the serve and pass battle, which was a big deal. We only were aced twice and it was exceptional with how we handled their pressure. We served them tough. That kept us in the game. I wish we could have put some more balls away when we had the opportunities. We will be ready for our final block of matches. We have four more matches that can write the ending of our story. We will come out and continue to play hard.”

MATCH SUMMARY
SET ONE (IOWA 25-21)
Vanzandt terminated Iowa’s first kill of the match to even the score at 2-2. Iowa gained the lead at 4-3 off the swing of Rumple on the slide. Vares broke the 7-7 tie with her first kill from the right side. Iowa won the race to ten on a kill from Rumple. The Hawkeyes took advantage of Gopher service errors and built a 12-9 lead. An ace from sophomore Jaimie Marquardt forced a Minnesota timeout with Iowa leading, 13-9. Minnesota used a 3-0 run to cut into Iowa’s lead, but Vanzandt dented the floor to stop the run and put Iowa back up by two at 14-12. On the following point, Worden smacked her first kill. Iowa was successful in challenging a block touch to give Vares a kill. After leading 20-16, Minnesota won a couple of points and Iowa used its first timeout, leading 20-18. Vanzandt ended Minnesota’s run to keep Iowa in the lead at 21-19. The Gophers were able to sideout, but Vanzandt terminated again to preserve Iowa’s lead. To close the set, Iowa used two kills from Worden and an Ammeraal and Stojanovic block to take the first set.

SET TWO (MINNESOTA 25-19)
Minnesota rebounded and staked a 6-2 lead to begin set two. Vares picked up a kill before Vanzandt painted the back line after a long rally to pull Iowa within two at 6-4. Minnesota regained control of the set and opened up a 9-5 lead. Worden crushed a ball from Ammeraal to get a crucial sideout. Stojanovic and Worden stuffed Minnesota star Julia Hanson, as Iowa’s deficit was cut to two. Vanzandt used a sharp angle cut shot to keep Iowa’s run going, but Minnesota led at the media timeout, 15-11. Vanzandt picked up her 10th kill coming out of the timeout. Iowa’s defense remained relentless, keeping Iowa in long rallies. The Hawkeyes fought, but were unable to mount a comeback. Minnesota wrapped up the set on a 4-1 run.

SET THREE (MINNESOTA 25-18)
Iowa responded, running out to a 4-1 lead on kills from Ammeraal, Vanzandt and Vares. The Gophers stormed back to even the set at 5-5. Minnesota got its first lead of the set off a 3-0 run. Iowa called a timeout trailing, 9-8. Vares stopped the run at 4-0 after she tooled a kill off the block. Iowa fell behind, 14-10, before a kill from Vares slowed the Minnesota momentum. Ammeraal swung on two to bring Iowa closer at 14-12. Iowa stayed within striking distance on a Vanzandt kill. Minnesota continued to push, winning the race to 20, with a five-point lead. Minnesota played side out volleyball the rest of the way, having an answer for every Hawkeye point. Iowa fought back but was never able to tie the set.

SET FOUR (IOWA 25-23)
Rumple swung on an overpass from the Gophers to notch her fifth kill and tie the set at 2-2. Stojanovic dropped in an ace to give Iowa the lead. Ammeraal terminated on two, getting the crowd into it, Iowa leading 6-5. After a long rally, Worden killed a ball down the left sideline to tie the set at 9-9. A Marquardt ace put Iowa in front, 12-11. Iowa led, 15-13, going into the media timeout after an Ammeraal and Rumple block. Rumple pummeled a pass from Ammeraal to keep Iowa in front, 16-14. Iowa led, 23-20, after Marquardt’s third ace and Minnesota called a timeout to regroup. The Gophers responded with a couple points of their own and Iowa took a timeout leading, 23-22. Vanzandt swung to give Iowa set point and Worden terminated to close the set for the Hawkeyes.

SET FIVE (MINNESOTA 15-13)
Stojanovic got Iowa on the board in the fifth after Minnesota won the first two points. Moisio passed to Ammeraal to give Iowa a 4-3 lead. Both teams played side out volleyball in the decisive fifth set. Worden terminated to even the set at 7-7. Iowa used a successful challenge to lead, 8-7, going into the change of sides. Stojanovic out of the middle kept Iowa ahead, 9-8. A Minnesota kill and Iowa error gave the Gophers the lead at 10-9 and Iowa called a timeout. Out of the timeout, Vares was successful from the right side to once again tie the set at 10-10. After a Gopher service error kept the set tied at 11-11, Minnesota called a timeout. The pivotal points for Minnesota were a kill and block to give them a two-point advantage at 13-11, which forced an Iowa timeout. Iowa saved two match points before a Minnesota kill ended the match.

Up Next: Iowa (14-14, 5-11 B1G) travels to top-ranked Nebraska on Thursday. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m. (CT) and will be televised on FS1. The match will be streamed on the Hawkeye Radio Network.