Hawkeyes Fall in Valiant Effort at No. 9 Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – University of Iowa volleyball challenged ninth-ranked Purdue, but fell in four sets on Saturday night inside Holloway Gymnasium. Iowa moved to 13-13 overall and 4-10 in the Big Ten.

The Hawkeyes dropped the first two sets, 25-22 and 25-21, before winning the third, 25-17. Purdue won the fourth set, 25-18.

Redshirt sophomore Alyssa Worden led the Hawkeyes in kills for the third time this season, racking up 13. She added nine digs. Junior Hannah Whittingstall tallied 11 kills on 23 swings to lead Iowa with a .348 hitting percentage. Freshman Carmel Vares matched Whittingstall with 11 kills.

Senior Claire Ammeraal notched her eighth double-double of the season with 35 assists and 13 digs. Ammeraal had six kills. Senior libero Milana Moisio wrapped up the night with 21 digs, surpassing 20 for the fourth time this season. Sophomore Jaimie Marquardt recorded nine digs and contributed a team-high three aces.

The Hawkeyes had more kills (51-46), digs (65-60) and aces (8-7) than the Boilermakers. The eight aces are the team’s most since the Oct. 26 win against Rutgers.

MATCH SUMMARY
SET ONE (PURDUE 25-22)
Graduate Chard’e Vanzandt opened the scoring for the Hawkeyes with a kill from the left side. Iowa got out to a 3-0 lead to start the match. Purdue immediately responded with its own 3-0 run. Iowa won the race to ten on a kill from Vares. The Hawkeyes led 15-14 at the media timeout on a back row kill from Vanzandt. After Purdue gained the lead, Vares struck from the right side to even the set at 17-17. Tied at 19, Iowa pushed ahead on a Purdue error and Vanzandt ace that forced a Purdue timeout. Purdue tied things up at 21 and Iowa called its first timeout. The Boilers used an ace out of the timeout to take a 22-21 advantage. Worden swung long, but a successful Iowa challenge tied the set back up at 22-22. Purdue closed out the first set on a 3-0 run after an Iowa error, a block and a kill. Vares terminated five kills in the opening set. Iowa recorded 14 kills in the opening set compared to Purdue’s 11.

SET TWO (PURDUE 25-21)
Iowa started strong with a 6-1 lead on Purdue. The Boilermakers called a timeout to attempt to halt the Hawkeyes’ momentum. Coming out of the timeout, Iowa grew its lead to 7-1 after a Purdue misfire. Marquart dropped an ace in front of a Purdue defender to give Iowa a 9-2 advantage. Iowa’s lead was cut down to two at 10-8 before a Worden kill slowed the run. After Purdue tied the set at 12-12, Worden was able to reclaim the lead on the next point. Iowa went up 15-13 after another successful challenge and an ace from sophomore Aleksandra Stojanovic. Vares grew the lead to three on a kill, but Purdue stormed right back to tie it at 16-16. Even at 17, Whittingstall executed on the slide off a great pass from Ammeraal to take the lead. Purdue pushed out in front 19-18, before Worden smoked a pass from Ammeraal to knot the set up at 19. A kill from Worden got Iowa within one at 21-20 before Purdue capitalized on a kill and ace to force an Iowa timeout. Out of the break, Vares dented the floor from the right side. Purdue held off a response from Iowa and closed the set on a kill and block. Purdue used a 6-2 run to finish out the frame. Iowa recorded four aces in the set.

SET THREE (IOWA 25-17)
Purdue carried its momentum from the end of the second to get out to a 4-0 start and Iowa called a timeout. Iowa rallied, recording six points in a row, to take the 6-4 lead. Iowa led 9-6 when Purdue used its first timeout of the set. Out of the timeout, Worden had a solo block. Iowa won another challenge and expanded its lead to 13-7 on a reversed call. Worden’s ninth kill ballooned the lead to 15-8. Iowa continued to put pressure on the Boilers, taking a 17-9 advantage and forcing Purdue to use its final timeout. Vanzandt drilled kill number seven to put Iowa in front 20-11. Purdue threatened a comeback at the end, but was unsuccessful. Iowa hit a match-high .273 and recorded a match-high 18 digs in the set win. The Hawkeyes overcame a 4-0 deficit to start the set and the 10-3 run during the middle points was the difference marker.

SET FOUR (PURDUE 25-18)
Purdue ran out to a 4-0 lead for the second-straight set. Vares got Iowa on the board, but the Hawkeyes fell behind, 6-1. A Marquardt ace pulled Iowa within three at 6-3. Iowa fell behind by as many as eight early in the set and called its first timeout trailing 12-4. The Hawkeyes cut the deficit in half at 12-6 on a block. Purdue used its early separation to fight off Iowa’s comeback. Iowa saved three match points with kills from Worden and Ammeraal before Purdue closed the match on a kill. The Hawkeyes struggled to gain traction offensively in the set, finishing with more errors than kills.

Up Next: Iowa hosts Northwestern on Nov. 13 at Xtream Arena. First serve is set for 6 p.m. (CT).