Hawkeyes Drop Road Contest to No. 16 Penn State

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – University of Iowa volleyball dropped to 12-6 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten with a four-set loss to 16th-ranked Penn State on Saturday night inside Rec Hall. Iowa won the opening set 25-22 before the Nittany Lions rattled off 25-17, 25-22 and 25-19 set victories.

Carmel Vares earned the start and led Iowa offensively for the first time this season, tallying nine kills on 26 swings. In her return after missing the Maryland match, Ksenija Tomic smacked eight kills. Hannah Whittingstall also recorded eight. Rosa Vesty led Iowa with a .556 hitting percentage, converting on six of nine swings with one error. Setter Jenna Meitzler had 30 assists.

Both teams served aggressively and racked up the miscues from the line. Penn State had 17 errors, while Iowa had seven. The Hawkeyes served four aces to Penn State’s seven.

Henlee Moszkowicz and Jaimie Marquardt led Iowa in the back row with nine digs apiece.

MATCH SUMMARY
SET ONE (IOWA 25-22)
Hannah Whittingstall started the scoring with a kill on the slide. Liv Mogridge and Rosa Vesty teamed up on a block to tie the opening set at 4-4. Two Nittany Lion errors pushed Iowa up 6-4. Whittingstall regained the lead for Iowa at 9-8. Jenna Meitzler won a joust to even the score at 10-10. Kills from Ksenija Tomic and Vesty sent Iowa into the technical timeout ahead, 15-14. Iowa stretched its lead to a set-high three at 18-15 off an error, forced a Penn State timeout at 19-16, and reached 20 first at 20-16 on a Carmel Vares kill. After Penn State pulled within 20-18 and later used a 3-0 run to make it 22-21, Mogridge stopped the rally with a middle attack. That sequence paved the way for a Tomic kill and a final Nittany Lion error that secured the set. Iowa out-hit Penn State .278 to .270 with just one unforced error.
 
SET TWO (PENN STATE 25-17)
Penn State seized momentum from the opening serve of the second set, racing out to a 5-1 advantage that ultimately sustained a wire-to-wire Nittany Lion victory. Despite back-to-back blocks pulling the Hawkeyes within three at 8-5, Penn State stayed in front for the entire set. The Nittany Lions maintained their cushion, carrying a 15-10 lead into the technical timeout. Limited to just seven kills in the frame, Iowa was unable to mount a comeback as Penn State controlled the remainder of the set to level the match.
 
SET THREE (PENN STATE 25-22)
Iowa matched the Nittany Lions point-for-point early behind kills from Whittingstall and Vares. Tomic tied the frame 6-6 with a kill off the Penn State block. Mogridge added a kill, a solo block and joined Meitzler for a block to bring Iowa within one at 11-10. Vares evened things with a kill on the next play. Penn State used a 4-0 run to carry a 15-11 advantage into the media timeout and held that lead through the rest of the stanza using side-out volleyball. Trailing 20-16, Iowa used a timeout and fought back within 21-19 via a block and a kill. Down 24-20, the Hawkeyes fended off two set points before a service error handed the Nittany Lions the set win.

SET FOUR (PENN STATE 25-19)
Henlee Moszkowicz used an ace to tie the fourth at 4-4. Hannah Whittingstall knotted it at 5-5 with a short slide kill, but the Nittany Lions answered with a 6-1 surge. Iowa clawed back by capitalizing on three Penn State errors and a Vares kill to force a Nittany Lion timeout at 11-11. Penn State immediately regrouped with a 4-1 run to lead 15-12 at the break. Vesty kept Iowa close at 17-14 with a sharp cross-court kill, and the Hawkeyes fought back to 20-16 following a Penn State error and another Whittingstall strike. The Nittany Lions leaned on their mid-set run to close out the frame and the match with a kill.
 
NOTABLES

• Carmel Vares led Iowa for the first time this season with nine kills.
• After missing the Maryland match, Ksenija Tomic smacked eight kills.
• Rosa Vesty was 6-of-9 with one error and finished with a team-leading .556 hitting percentage.
• The Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions each had eight blocks.
• Iowa fell to 9-3 when winning the first set.
• This was Iowa’s first ranked match of the season.
• Iowa is 0-1 in the Discover Volleyball Challenge matches this season.
   
  Up Next: Iowa (12-6, 1-3 B1G) heads to Michigan on Friday. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. (CT) inside the Crisler Center.