IOWA CITY, Iowa — After recording a set one victory, the University of Iowa volleyball team dropped the next three to fall 3-1 to No. 23 Wisconsin (14-1, 3-0) on Wednesday, Oct. 2. The loss moves Iowa to 9-6 overall and 0-3 in Big Ten action.
Iowa took an early match advantage playing to a 25-17 set one win, its first opening set victory since the team faced Milwaukee on the road on Sept. 17. Alex Lovell used a pair of kills and a solo block to put the Hawkeyes up early, and an Alessandra Dietz service ace and Lauren Brobst and Erin Leppek block followed to help Iowa’s lead to 8-4.
The Badgers charged back outscoring the Hawkeyes 8-3 to take a lead, which held until Iowa fired back with an eight point drive to regain control of the set. Kari Mueller served up the rally, highlighted by a pair of kills from Dietz and Lovell, a duo of Dietz and Brobst blocks, and a Lovell and Dietz block. The Hawkeyes closed out the set outdoing the Badgers offensively with a Brobst kill, Dietz service ace, and a Leppek kill.
In the second set, Iowa jumped out to a 6-2 lead with kills from Dietz and Erin Radke, a Dietz service ace, a Leppek solo block, and combination blocks from Lovell and Dietz and Leppek and Radke. From there, it was all Wisconsin as the Badgers used a seven point run to establish a lead. The Badgers held off the Hawkeyes for the remainder of the set, evening the match at one set apiece, 25-19.
Wisconsin opened set three with a four point run and never fell behind from there en route to a 25-17 set win. The Hawkeyes used a drive to tie it up 10-10, but the Badgers thwarted Iowa’s comeback with a 6-0 run.
After the Badgers established a 5-1 lead in the fourth set, Iowa rallied back to tie the match 8-8 with two Bedell kills and a kill apiece from Brobst, Radke, and Leppek. The Hawkeyes and Badgers battled back and forth through seven ties and four lead changes before Wisconsin pulled away with the final set win, 25-20, and the match victory, 3-1.
Lovell paced the Hawkeyes with 14 kills and earned her eighth double-double of 2013 with 12 digs. Nikki Dailey notched her sixth double-double with 17 assists and 11 digs, and Alyssa Klostermann picked up her eighth double-double with 17 assists and 13 digs. Bethany Yeager posted a team-high 19 digs in the four set match, while Dietz led the way with a team-most six blocks and compiled a career-best five service aces.
“We competed really hard, and that was one of the areas we really wanted to fix from last weekend,” head coach Sharon Dingman said. “It didn’t feel like we competed at a level last weekend that we needed to. Tonight, we competed hard enough to win. Obviously, we didn’t execute well enough at certain times to win, but I love how we competed. We let then make runs, but then we found a way to score some points and get a little momentum back. All in all, I’m pleased, but there’s certainly no satisfaction. We still lost.”
The Hawkeyes are back in action at home on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m. against No. 8 Minnesota. It is Social Media Saturday, which provides fans that follow @iowavolleyball on Twitter and like Iowa Volleyball on Facebook the opportunity to win prizes and receive special discounts.
Fans can get autographs from the team on the court after the match and gain free admission with their Iowa vs. Michigan State football ticket stub. The first 300 fans through the door will receive a complimentary mouse pad. There will also be a Kids Zone featuring giant board games.
