What: Iowa (11-12, 1-9 Big Ten) vs. Penn State (15-5, 8-2 Big Ten)
When: Friday, October 28, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Rec Hall
Media: BigTenNetwork.com; GameTracker
The Iowa-Penn State women’s volleyball match will feature a costume contest, with prizes to be awarded to the top costumes. But anyway you dress it up, this match is a mismatch. Iowa is ranked at (or near) the bottom of every Big Ten statistical category (e.g. hitting .117 as a team while allowing opponents to hit at .285 — see Stat Joust, below), and sits 11th in the mathematically-challenged Big Ten.
So we’re not expecting an upset by Iowa. Penn State is, after all, 41-0 all-time against the Hawkeyes.
Still, it’s almost Halloween, and we can’t get the memory of Iowa’s October 2, 2009 3-1 loss to Penn State out of our heads — the one where Iowa broke Penn State’s streak of winning 141 consecutive regular-season sets.
Here’s what Head Coach Russ Rose had to say in an interview with the Daily Collegian’s Andrew J. Cassavell about that third-set loss to the Hawkeyes:
I’ve seen us at times have flashes of playing really great volleyball, and this weekend I saw us playing very uninspired. . . . In this conference if you play uninspired they’ll smack you upside the head.
So if Penn State takes Iowa for granted, they might get smacked in the head, sort of like this:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q[/youtube]
About Penn State
Penn State swept both Ohio State and Michigan last week, hitting .358 as a team. To steal a line from RaymondLuxuryYacht’s post, both 6-4 So. RS/Oppp Ariel Scott and 6-1 So. OH Deja McClendon were in the building in, at the same time, in both of those matches. And it showed. 6-6 So. OH Katie Slay had a solid week as well — with 3.0 kills/set and 1.83 blocks/set.
Though errors were down, Head Coach Russ Rose wasn’t completely happy. In an article by Gordon Brunskill in the Centre Daily Times following the Michigan match, Rose gave 5-11 Fr. S Micha Hancock mixed reviews:
Her distribution’s getting a little better. She has to do more than distribute the ball. She has to serve a little tougher than she did tonight, keep the ball in play, she has to play defense — tonight was a really bad defensive performance by her.
In the back row, 5-6 So. L Ali Longo continued to quietly take charge. She registered 3.50 digs/set, and is now ranked 9th in the Big Ten (Conference only) with 3.81 digs/set and 9th in service aces with .30/set.
About Iowa
Iowa lost its first four Big Ten matches before downing Indiana 3-2 on October 7th. Since then, it’s been pretty much down hill, as the Hawkeyes have lost their last five matches.
This is the kind of season where you look for bright spots. Recently, 6-3 So. MH Chante’ Thompson has been one of those, as she has increased her kill total in each of Iowa’s last four matches — though her high of six wasn’t eye-popping.
Another is that Iowa, like Penn State, is a young team. So there’s always next year. Getting valuable experience this season have been 5-7 So. DS Bethany Yeager (6th in the Big Ten – conference only – with 4.15 digs/set) and 5-9 So. S Nikki Dailey (9th in Big Ten – Conference only, with 8.21 assists/set) both of whom have started every match. Other sophomore starters have been Chante’ Thompson (6 starts), 6-1 OH Rachael Bedell (5 starts) and 5-10 L/DS Grace Burns. Freshmen starters have been 5-11 OH Alex Lovell (18 starts), 6-2 MB Emily Yanny (12 starts), 6-0 MB Erin Leppek (9 starts) and 5-7 DS Kari Mueller(5 starts).
Stat Joust
Team Stats (Conference Only)
| HITTING PERCENTAGE |
S |
K |
E |
TA |
Pct. |
|
|
1. |
Nebraska |
39 |
535 |
162 |
1302 |
.286 |
|
5. |
Penn State |
37 |
493 |
191 |
1284 |
.235 |
|
11. |
Iowa |
33 |
337 |
196 |
1202 |
.117 |
| Opponent Hitting Pct. |
S |
K |
E |
TA |
Pct. |
|
|
1. |
Nebraska |
39 |
457 |
251 |
1384 |
.149 |
|
4. |
Penn State |
37 |
438 |
208 |
1267 |
.182 |
|
12. |
Iowa |
33 |
484 |
146 |
1185 |
.285 |
| ASSISTS |
S |
No. |
Avg/S |
|
|
1. |
Ohio State |
37 |
475 |
12.84 |
|
2. |
Nebraska |
39 |
498 |
12.77 |
|
8. |
Penn State |
37 |
453 |
12.24 |
|
12. |
Iowa |
33 |
312 |
9.45 |
| KILLS |
S |
No. |
Avg/S |
|
|
1. |
Ohio State |
37 |
512 |
13.84 |
|
2. |
Nebraska |
39 |
535 |
13.72 |
|
8. |
Penn State |
37 |
493 |
13.32 |
|
12. |
Iowa |
33 |
337 |
10.21 |
| BLOCKS |
S |
BS |
BA |
Total |
Avg/S |
|
|
1. |
Northwestern |
38 |
17 |
186 |
110.0 |
2.89 |
|
4. |
Penn State |
37 |
21 |
154 |
98.0 |
2.65 |
|
5. |
Nebraska |
39 |
19 |
165 |
101.5 |
2.60 |
|
12. |
Iowa |
33 |
9 |
52 |
35.0 |
1.06 |
| SERVICE ACES |
S |
No. |
Avg/S |
|
|
1. |
Penn State |
37 |
59 |
1.59 |
|
10. |
Nebraska |
39 |
35 |
0.90 |
|
11. |
Iowa |
33 |
26 |
0.79 |
| DIGS |
S |
No. |
Avg/S |
|
|
1. |
Purdue |
38 |
613 |
16.13 |
|
5. |
Nebraska |
39 |
595 |
15.26 |
|
7. |
Iowa |
33 |
493 |
14.94 |
|
10. |
Penn State |
37 |
526 |
14.22 |
Individual Stats (Conference Only
| Hitting % (Min. 3.0 TA/set) | Cl |
S |
K |
E |
TA |
Pct. |
|
|
1. |
Fisher, Tiffany-Purdue | SR |
38 |
91 |
18 |
172 |
.424 |
|
3. |
Slay, Katie-Penn State | SO |
37 |
78 |
22 |
153 |
.366 |
|
4. |
Delano, Brooke-Nebraska | SR |
39 |
69 |
17 |
157 |
.331 |
|
7. |
Werth, Hannah-Nebraska | JR |
39 |
116 |
33 |
267 |
.311 |
|
9. |
Broekhuis, Morgan-Nebraska | SO |
39 |
125 |
34 |
302 |
.301 |
| KILLS | Cl |
S |
No. |
Avg/S |
|
|
1. |
Turner, Ariel-Purdue | JR |
38 |
189 |
4.97 |
|
4. |
Scott, Ariel-Penn State | SO |
37 |
147 |
3.97 |
|
9. |
Mancuso, Gina-Nebraska | JR |
39 |
135 |
3.46 |
| ASSISTS | Cl |
S |
No. |
Avg/S |
|
|
1. |
Tabberson, Mia-Minnesota | JR |
37 |
432 |
11.68 |
|
3. |
Cook, Lauren-Nebraska | JR |
39 |
434 |
11.13 |
|
6. |
Hancock, Micha-Penn State | FR |
37 |
376 |
10.16 |
|
9. |
Dailey, Nikki-Iowa | SO |
33 |
271 |
8.21 |
| SERVICE ACES | Cl |
S |
No. |
Avg/S |
|
|
1. |
Hancock, Micha-Penn State | FR |
37 |
31 |
0.84 |
|
9. |
Longo, Ali-Penn State | SO |
37 |
11 |
0.30 |
| BLOCKS | Cl |
S |
BS |
BA |
Total |
Avg/S |
|
|
1. |
Dutchman, Katie-Northwestern | FR |
38 |
7 |
51 |
58.0 |
1.53 |
|
2. |
Slay, Katie-Penn State | SO |
37 |
12 |
44 |
56.0 |
1.51 |
|
6. |
Thramer, Hayley-Nebraska | SO |
36 |
4 |
40 |
44.0 |
1.22 |
| DIGS | Cl |
S |
No. |
Avg/S |
|
|
1. |
Moster, Kori-Michigan State | FR |
43 |
211 |
4.91 |
|
6. |
Yeager, Bethany-Iowa | SO |
33 |
137 |
4.15 |
|
9. |
Longo, Ali-Penn State | SO |
37 |
141 |
3.81 |
| POINTS | Cl |
S |
K |
SA |
BS |
BA |
Total |
Avg/S |
|
|
1. |
Turner, Ariel-Purdue | JR |
38 |
189 |
6 |
6 |
17 |
209.5 |
5.51 |
|
5. |
Scott, Ariel-Penn State | SO |
37 |
147 |
1 |
2 |
32 |
166.0 |
4.49 |
|
7. |
Mancuso, Gina-Nebraska | JR |
39 |
135 |
9 |
7 |
21 |
161.5 |
4.14 |