Iowa Volleyball: Match Notes: South Dakota Tournament

THIS WEEK

The University of Iowa volleyball team travels to Vermillion, South Dakota, for the South Dakota Tournament. The Hawkeyes open the tournament against Friday against Wyoming at 10 a.m. (CT) and UC Davis at 4:30 p.m. Iowa faces South Dakota to close the tournament on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG

  • Live stats for each contest can be found on the team's schedule page or on hawkeyesports.com/vblive.
  • A live stream of Iowa's matches are available on South Dakota's website.

LOOKING BACK ON THE BIG TEN/PAC-12 CHALLENGE

  • The Hawkeyes suffered their first two losses of the season on Sept. 6-7 against #19 Colorado and #12 Washington.
  • Senior Meghan Buzzerio was named to the all-tournament team after tallying 36 total kills.
  • Freshman Kyndra Hansen made her first career start against Washington. She finished with eight kills.
  • Junior Halle Johnston tallied a career-high 22 digs against Washington.

HIT IT!

  • Iowa is among the nation's best in hitting percentage.
  • The Hawkeyes rank 12th in the nation with a .338 team attack percentage (233-37-580).

HANSEN MAKES FIRST COLLEGIATE START

  • Freshman Kyndra Hansen made her first career start against Washington on Sept. 7. 
  • Hansen played all four sets, tallying a career-high eight kills on 32 attempts.
  • The White Bear Lake, Minn., native added three block assists, helping Iowa to 18 total block assists in the match.

CREATING A BUZZ

  • Senior Meghan Buzzerio ranks fourth in the Big Ten with 4.47 kills/set.
  • Buzzerio tied a career high with 23 kills against Washington on Sept. 7. 
  • The Chino Hills, California, native's 23 kills are the second-most kills in a four-set match by a Big Ten player this season.
  • Buzzerio's 59 total attempts are the most this season by a Big Ten player in a four-set match.

BLOCKING OUT THE HATERS

  • Sophomore Amiya Jones leads the Hawkeyes in the middle with 18 total blocks. 
  • Jones has one solo block and 17 block assists through five matches, including a season-high six blocks against James Madison. 

NEW LIBERO, NO PROBLEM

  • Halle Johnston took over as Iowa's libero entering her junior season.
  • Johnston continues the trend of effective Iowa liberos with 4.65 digs/set to currently rank second in the Big Ten.
  • The Lakeville, Minn., native plays best against the west, notching career highs in digs against Washington State (21) on Aug. 30 and Washington (22) on Sept. 7.

SISTER ACT

  • Senior Meghan Buzzerio and sophomore Courtney Buzzerio have provided Iowa a potent spark on offense.
  • The Buzzerio sisters have combined for 46% (108-233) of Iowa's kills and 62% (13-21) of Iowa's service aces.
  • In her first season as a right-side hitter, Courtney Buzzerio has added 32 kills through five matches to rank fourth on the team.

HAWKEYES SWEEP NO. 22 WASHINGTON STATE

  • Iowa defeated No. 22 Washington State on Aug. 31 for the team's first win over a ranked team this season and second win overall.
  • The victory is Iowa's first win over a ranked opponent on the road since Oct. 12, 2012, when Iowa downed the Boilermakers in West Lafayette.
  • Iowa held the edge in kills (46-28), blocks (6-5), assists (37-26), and digs (49-43).
  • Senior Meghan Buzzerio and junior Griere Hughes led Iowa with 12 kills each.
  • Junior Brie Orr added a match-high 32 assists.
  • Junior Halle Johnston tallied 21 digs.

WE'RE THE CAPTAINS NOW

Heading into the 2019 season, Iowa has three team captains: seniors Emily Bushman and Meghan Buzzerio, and junior Brie Orr.

24TH RANKED RECRUITING CLASS

NEW HEAD HAWKEYE

  • Vicki Brown was named interim head coach on May 20, 2019, after serving as associate head coach for two seasons, when she was in charge of Iowa's defense and recruiting efforts.
  • Under Brown's guidance, Iowa brought in the 24th-ranked recruiting class in the nation in 2019.

FACING THE BEST

  • Iowa faces seven teams currently ranked in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Week one poll - Nebraska (2), Penn State (4), Minnesota (8), Wisconsin (9), Illinois (14), Purdue (23), and Michigan (24).
  • In each of the last three years, the Big Ten has been represented by two teams in the NCAA Final Four.
  • 14 of Iowa's 31 matches are against ranked teams, 12 against teams inside the Big Ten. 
  • Seven of Iowa's final 10 matches this season are against teams ranked inside the top-25.

ORR CAREER ASSIST TRACKER

  • Junior Brie Orr enters her junior year as team captain.
  • Orr has amassed 2,615 assists in her career to rank seventh in program history. She trails Barb Zvonek for sixth all-time.
  • Orr's 1,242 assists in 2018 are the second most in program history since the 25-point scoring format was implemented in 2008.
  • Orr has played in every match in her career, averaging 10.34 assists per set. 

HOW'S THE WEATHER UP THERE?

THE PREMIER CONFERENCE

The Big Ten Conference has had an NCAA champion in nine of the last 15 years. 

Seven teams – Penn State, Michigan, Nebraska, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Purdue, – appeared in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. 

FOLLOW THE HAWKEYES

For an inside look at the Iowa Volleyball program and access to exclusive coverage, "like" University of Iowa Volleyball on Facebook and follow @iowaVolleyball on Twitter and Instagram. 

SCOUTING WYOMING

  • Wyoming enters the weekend 4-2 overall and are on a four-match winning streak.
  • The Cowgirls have swept three of their four wins.
  • Offensively, KC McMahon paves the way for the Cowgirl offense with 62 kills and 4.13 kills/set. 
  • Jackie McBride averages 1.20 blocks/set and has eight solo blocks and 16 block assists.
  • This is the second consecutive year Iowa and Wyoming have faced off. Iowa won the 2018 meeting, 3-1, in Ames and lead the all-time series 1-0.

SCOUTING UC DAVIS

  • UC Davis is 5-2 overall and defeated swept Portland State in its most recent match on Sept. 7.
  • Mahalia White and Lauren Matias provide dual threats in the Aggie offense, tallying 74 and 69 kills, respectively.
  • Alexa Rockas leads the team with 12 service aces, but also has 14 service errors.
  • This is the first ever meeting between Iowa and UC Davis.

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA

  • South Dakota is 6-1 after the first two weekends of competition.
  • The Coyotes have swept four of their six wins, including their last three matches.
  • Freshman Elizabeth Juhnke leads South Dakota with 96 kills and a 4.17 kills/set average.
  • Sophomore Madison Jurgens paces the team with 252 assists anda 10.96 assists/set average.
  • The Hawkeyes lead the all-time series 4-0.

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