Iowa volleyball stuns No. 6 Wisconsin
“Let’s Go Hawks” chants rang out of the home locker room of Carver-Hawkeye Arena after a 5-set thriller over No. 6 Wisconsin. Taylor Louis and Cali Hoye posted a monstrous 54 combined kills in the win.
Iowa’s Taylor Louis winds up to spike the ball during a volleyball match against Wisconsin on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018. The Hawkeyes defeated the number six ranked Badgers 3-2.
October 7, 2018
In Carver-Hawkeye Arena’s first volleyball action in over two weeks, Iowa took down No. 6 Wisconsin in a five-set thriller.
Oct. 6 was “Dig Pink” Night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, furnishing Iowa volleyball with a festive aura for its return home.
The Badgers looked to ruin this mini-homecoming, hot off a dominating victory over No. 7 Illinois. History was on their side, having not suffered a loss against Iowa in 15 straight meetings.
The first set included the work of a clear top-10 volleyball team. It is not easy to win a road match anywhere in the Big Ten, but Wisconsin looked poised to win an easy one.
Any offensive fire the Hawkeyes were able to muster was diluted by attack errors and low hitting percentage. The Badgers hit consistently and were able to post a .395 hitting percentage in the set, which looked impressive against the Hawkeyes’ .175,
The Badgers won the set 25-22, despite a gutsy run late in the set from the Hawkeyes.
The next two sets saw a determined defensive effort from Iowa, yielding long rallies and tough net play. The Hawkeyes were not able to get any blocks in the first set but put up 5 in the following two. Sarah Wing led this effort as she fought her way to 6 total blocks on the night.
Hawkeyes Cali Hoye and Taylor Louis had monstrous nights for the squad. They were instrumental in helping the Hawkeyes win the second and third sets at the same score of 25-22.
Wisconsin grabbed a lead early in the fourth set and held it for the majority of it. Hitters Grace Loberg and Madison Duello led a clean offensive effort that quietly led the Badgers to 25-19 victory in the fourth.
It all came down to who wanted the victory more, and the Hawkeyes proved it was them.
Iowa jumped out to a 8-2 lead in the first part of the fifth. The scoring run included kills from Louis and Hoye and a service ace from Louis.
Fittingly, the match would come to a close with a kill from Louis at a score of 15-12.
Hoye and Louis together posted a massive 54 kill effort to give the Hawkeyes a huge upset win over the top-ten Badgers.
Head coach Bond Shymansky was excited for the future after the five-set thriller.
“What a great win,” he said. “[It’s] awesome. We’re super excited for our program and our team.”