Marquette Falls to Iowa, 3-1

Aug. 26, 2007

IOWA CITY - The Marquette volleyball team dropped their second game of the season, 3-1 (27-30, 30-28, 27-30, 21=30), in the Carver-Hawkeye Arena in the final game of the Hawkeye Challenge this afternoon. The Golden Eagles fall to 0-2 on the season.

Marquette saw four players in double figure kills with senior outside hitter Kim Todd slamming 18, junior outside hitter Ashlee Fisher posted 12 and both freshman outside hitter Rabbecka Gonyo and junior outside hitter Julie Richards notched 10 kills. Todd also had 17 digs.

Senior setter Katie Weidner dished out a match-high 50 assists and 11 digs for her first double-double of the season, while junior libero Terri Angst tallied 16 digs. Junior Jessica Keiser and sophomore Hailey Viola each posted 11 digs for the afternoon.

Becky Walters led Iowa with 11 kills, while Emily Hiza totaled 25 digs.

Game one was close all the way through, with MU leading much of the way. Iowa (1-1) took a lead, bringing the score to 21-20, and the team's traded points back and forth until a kill by the Hawkeyes sealed a win. The Golden Eagles dropped the first game 30-27, but slammed 14 kills, seven coming from Todd. Weidner dished out 14 assists in the first stanza.

The second game was just as tight as the first, as both MU and Iowa traded points back and forth from the beginning. Two services aces by the Golden Eagles gave them an early 6-3 lead, but they trailed until a kill by Richards put them at a 13-13 tie. Marquette pulled ahead 29-26, but it took them three game point attempts to secure a victory, which came on a kill by Fisher. The Golden Eagles won game two, 30-28, while Todd slammed a game-high 11 kills and both Ricahrds and Gonyo hit for four each.

Marquette got off to a strong start in game three. They held a 9-7 lead and went on a 7-3 run to force an Iowa timeout and bring the score to 16-10 in their favor. The Hawkeyes came out of the break strong as they forced a 6-1 run to creep within two points of MU at 21-19. Iowa kept creeping back and forced another MU timeout when they took a 24-23 lead. The Golden Eagles could not recover and dropped game three, 30-27.

The Golden Eagles trailed 9-5 early in game four, but an 8-3 run put them back ahead, 13-11. The Hawkeyes stayed close and pushed a 20-20 tie on a service ace by Kiley Fister and the teams went point-for-point until Iowa forced a Marquette timeout with MU trailing 23-21. The Golden Eagles would not score again as a 9-0 Iowa run won the game 30-21.

Marquette will be back in action as they host Miami (Fla.) in the Marquette Kick-Off Tournament on Friday, August 31, at 7 p.m.