Iowa Snaps 11-Match South Dakota Winning Streak on Saturday

Match Stats

• Iowa defeats South Dakots 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-21)
• Iowa goes to 10-2, South Dakota to 11-2

The Iowa women broke a 11-match South Dakota winning streak on Saturday with a 3-0 home sweep.

The Hawkeyes hit .336 and recorded 51 kills in the quick 90-minute sweep, with double-digit scoring coming from Lauren Brobst and Meghan Buzzeiro.

South Dakota in taking the loss did have a few bright spots – including freshman outside hitter Elizabeth Loschen, who racked up 10 kills on 22 attack for a .318 hitting percentage.

Press Releases

Courtesy Iowa Athletics

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa volleyball team downed South Dakota (11-2) in straight sets on Saturday night in Carver-Hawkeye Arena to clinch to 2016 Iowa Invitational Championship. The Hawkeyes improve to 10-2 with the win, marking the team’s best start to a season since 2006.

“We did a nice job tonight,” said UI head coach Bond Shymansky. “I could tell our group was a lot more dialed in. We wanted to play well and have good execution.

“We had a lot of new faces out in the lineup which is important to us. We keep looking for different things that we can get out of different players. Overall, it was a good night for us to get a sweep.”

Senior setter Loxley Keala was named the tournament’s most valuable player, while redshirt freshman Meghan Buzzerio earned all-tournament honors. Keala dished out 76 of Iowa’s 85 assists on the weekend and helped six different Hawkeyes to double digits in kills. Buzzerio posted a team-high 15 kills on the weekend along with 10 digs and a pair of blocks.

Iowa snapped South Dakota’s 11-game winning streak. The Hawkeyes hit .336 in the match with 51 kills to hand the Coyotes their second loss of the season.

The Hawkeyes came out firing in the first set, registering a .415 attack percentage and 21 kills. Redshirt freshman Meghan Buzzerio and sophomore Reghan Coyle had the hot hands in the set, recording six kills apiece. Buzzerio and Coyle registered four straight kills to start the game and give Iowa an early 4-1 lead. The Hawkeyes remained in control from there, going on to win the set, 25-19.

Iowa stayed hot in the second set, hitting .370 with 12 kills. After a back-and-forth battle to begin the set, Keala served a 6-0 run to create distance (17-10). The Hawkeyes held on to the momentum from there, winning the set, 25-15.

The Hawkeyes got out to a 16-9 lead in set three behind an 11-3 run. Junior Jess Janota (2), sophomore Reagan Davey (2), and senior Lauren Brobst (1) added kills to the rally while freshman Cali Hoye recorded an ace. The Coyotes fought back, pulling within three, 23-20, but kills by Janota and senior Ashley Mariani clinched the, 25-21, set victory and, 3-0, match sweep.

Twelve Hawkeyes saw game action. Five Iowa attackers hit .300 or better in the match (minimum 10 attempts). Coyle was the most efficient, hitting .500 with eight kills in 14 attempts and just one error. Brobst paced the team with 11 kills, Keala dished out a team-leading 43 assists, and Mariani posted a team-high three blocks. Junior libero Annika Olsen led the team with 15 digs, while Hoye registered a career-high 11.

Iowa opens its Big Ten slate next weekend traveling to No. 22 Michigan State on Friday, Sept. 23 and No. 23 Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 24.

“Every contact is going to be important as we head into Big Ten play,” said Shymansky. “The margin of error is so small against top-25 teams. Right now we have eight Big Ten teams in the top-25, including Michigan and Michigan State who we play on the road this weekend. That’s what we are here for. We’re here for the best-of-the-best each and every night.”

Courtesy South Dakota Athletics:

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The South Dakota volleyball team beat the Lamar Cardinals 25-14, 25-19, 25-5, but lost to the Iowa Hawkeyes 25-19, 25-15, 25-21 Saturday at the Iowa Invitational in Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Freshman outside hitter Elizabeth Loschen was named to the all-tournament team. She tallied 25 kills with a .392 hitting percentage and added five block assists as the Coyotes went 2-1 at the tournament.

The loss to Iowa snapped the Coyotes 11-game win streak. USD is now 11-2 on the season and Iowa is 10-2. Lamar drops to 0-12 after its loss to South Dakota.

In the first match of the day, South Dakota took on Lamar. Senior outside hitter Audrey Reeg led the Yotes with 13 kills and hit with a .500 clip. She added six digs, two service aces and one block assist.

Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Schmidt and Loschen each totaled seven kills.

Junior setter Brittany Jessen paced the Coyote offense with 33 assists. Jessen has totaled 30-plus assists in 11 matches.

On the defensive end, senior middle block Lindsey Brown had a career-high eight block assists. Sophomore libero Lauren Mattison tallied a match-high 13 digs.

With the Coyotes up 5-4, USD went on a 10-4 run to take a 15-8 lead and went on to win the first set 25-14. Schmidt tallied two kills during the run while Jessen and Reeg added one kill apiece.

Set two was a little bit closer until the Coyotes used another run to put the set away. South Dakota was leading 14-10 when the Coyotes went on a 4-0 run. Loschen tallied two kills during the run, Schmidt swatted down one and Mattison recorded an ace. USD went on to win the second set 25-19. The Coyotes carried that momentum into the third set and won handily 25-5 and swept the Cardinals.

Against Iowa, Loschen tallied 10 kills and added four digs. Law and Reeg had six and four kills, respectively. Jessen tallied 25 assists.

Defensively, Reeg totaled 11 digs. Mattison had nine digs and sophomore outside hitter Hayley Dotsethhad eight. Brown recorded four block assists.

The Hawkeyes opened the first set on a 9-3 run. USD fought back and cut the lead to four, 20-16, but couldn’t get any closer than that as Iowa won the first set 25-19.

With the second set tied at 10. Iowa scored seven straight points and never looked back as the Hawkeyes claimed the set 25-15. Iowa won the third set 25-21 and the match 3-0.

South Dakota continues the season on the road as the Coyotes travel to Macomb, Ill., and open Summit League play against Western Illinois Friday at 7 p.m.