The Iowa volleyball team traveled to Purdue this past weekend with hopes of putting together its first three-match “winning streak” in Big Ten play, but it had those aspirations dashed in an overtime loss to the No. 16 Boilermakers.
The Hawkeyes came in with as much momentum as they’ve had in months and used it to their advantage in the first set. They hit .393 in a tightly contested affair and battled through ties until back-to-back kills by Ashley Mariani gave them a 16-14 lead.
Iowa controlled the remainder of the set en route to a 26-24 victory.
This was a back-and-forth match, however, and the Boilermakers quickly made it known that they weren’t going to roll over. Jumping out to an 8-2 lead to begin the second set, they stole the momentum early and never let it go. They hit .314 in a 25-19 victory to tie the match at 1.
The Hawkeyes fell behind again to begin the third set, 7-4, but responded to put themselves on top. Using an 8-3 run, Iowa claimed a 12-10 advantage and prompted a Purdue time-out.
The Boilermakers gave the Hawkeyes a scare out of the huddle, taking a lead at 23-22, but the recently rejuvenated Hawkeyes knew how to bounce back. A 3-0 run stopped the Boilermakers in their tracks and won the set, 25-23.
With a chance to seal the upset, Iowa floundered after that set. Iowa fell behind early in the fourth, and used a 4-0 run to reduce the deficit to 12-11 but could never come all the way back to tie, much less take a lead. Purdue secured the victory, 25-20, and forced overtime.
Iowa had overcome its troubles establishing and maintaining momentum, but were ultimately tripped up by another recurring issue: errors. Four serving errors and seven more hitting errors led to Iowa’s dropping the set and the match, 15-8.
“For us to push a team like Purdue to a fifth set on their Homecoming night, I was so impressed and excited for our group,” head coach Bond Shymansky said. “We just did not respond to that prwessure in the fifth set.”
Jess Janota led with 19 kills, and Loxley Keala went over 1,000 assists at Iowa with 55 in the match.
Iowa will next play on Wednesday hosting Penn State.