Iowa Hawkeye Volleyball faces homecoming challenge head-on

Last Monday, Sharon Dingman, head volleyball coach for Iowa Hawkeyes and two players, junior Mallory Husz and freshman Rachell Bedell, visited the KRUI studio for an in-studio conversation. (I like to say conversation, not interview.)

We scheduled the interview- I mean conversation - for this week because the Hawkeyes are now preparing for two home matches, against Indiana and Purdue. We thought it would be good timing to encourage attendance during homecoming week. Unfortunately, the Iowa volleyball team was coming off a Big Ten opening road trip in which they went 0-2, including a 3-0 stomping at the hands of #22 Michigan.

They now sit at 5-6 and have lost 5 matches in a row.

It would be easy for the Iowa volleyball team to be sulking.

They weren’t, or at least, they didn’t seem to be.

Of course I didn’t start with the “what happened this weekend?” question, but I wouldn’t be a very good radio host if I didn’t bring it up eventually.
The team owned it.

Dingman talked about how the team came out flat at Michigan, and both players felt the team played distracted and uninterested. Dingman apparently even did something that seems uncommon for her. She yelled at her team. She got mad!

For those of you not familiar with the program, shouting and ranting is not Dingman's MO.

Bedell claims coach Dingman even directed a little of her ire directly at her. Furthermore, Bedell says she deserved it. That seems like pretty mature character from an 18 year-old.

So now the Hawkeyes go into Carver-Hawkeye Arena with a chance to swing things around.

Indiana is an obvious challenge. They sit at 12-2 overall, and are also coming off an 0-2 start in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers have fought their way to a 10-3 record.

So there you go- a combined 22-5 record coming to Iowa City this weekend.

No time to sulk, time to play ball.

Hawkeye Volleyball Needs Patience...and Urgency

The University of Iowa Volleyball team began conference play in less than desired fashion this weekend.

In a road trip to start conference play, they were defeated by both Michigan and Michigan State. The Hawkeyes lost 6 out of 7 sets, and although the team got pretty roughed up against Michigan on Friday night, they showed signs of life against the Spartans the next day. It just wasn’t enough, and as Head Coach Sharon Dingman would probably tell you, they couldn’t finish.

Iowa will rebound; I have no doubt, but right now they sit at 5-6 overall, 0-2 in the Big Ten, and have dropped 5 matches in a row, three of which have been sweep.

The team is young, they are learning on the fly, and the Big Ten schedule is a complete gauntlet.

If you need evidence of that, simply look at the first Big Ten match for the Hawkeyes: Michigan is ranked #22 in the country, and after sweeping the Hawks Friday, knocked off #14 Minnesota on Saturday. (I expect both Minnesota and Michigan to be ranked in the top 20 when the new rankings come out.) Things are never easy in the Big Ten Volleyball world.

Iowa put up a fight against MSU, which means something; I’m just not sure what yet.

Rachael Bedell led the team with 13 kills, a decent number for a match that only went four sets. Junior setter Paige Stevens had 22 assists, and is starting to show signs of maturing as the leader of the offense. (For those of you not familiar with the art of volleyball, the setter is sometimes referred to as the volleyball equivalent of a quarterback; although I would say the setter plays a role closer to the point-guard on a basketball team.) The team is still youthful and inexperienced, and played much better against the Spartans that they did against the Wolverines.

However, this team is beyond excuses and well beyond moral victories.

The time to win is now. (It’s not Play Like a Champion Today for no reason.) However, that doesn’t mean this team shouldn’t have patience. The worst thing a young team can do is get frustrated and not play with their heads. I’m sure Dingman has reminded them of this in one way or another.

Sharon Dingman will continue to develop the Iowa volleyball team into a winner, and take the challenges presented by the Big Ten head-on, but for now it is a wait and see process.

They will win eventually; I just hope it’s sooner than later.

Coming Soon to a Top 25 Near You: Hawkeye Women's Tennis

The University of Iowa Women’s Tennis team started the 2010 fall season this weekend in Waterloo, IA, traveling up to the UNI Invite on Friday.

With a combined doubles and singles record of 13-1 on Friday, 8-4 on Saturday, and a completion of 2 singles titles on the final day, things are looking good again for the Hawkeye racket wielders. This is a good sign for a Hawkeye team coming off one of the best springs in recent memory.

In the spring of 2010, the women’s tennis squad finished with a 28th overall ranking, and second in the Central region, just behind the Arkansas Razorbacks. Iowa earned a fourth-place finish in the Big Ten Tournament and a trip to the NCAA Tournament under the leadership of head coach Katie Dougherty. (By the way, it was first year as Dougherty as a head coach. Not the first year as head coach of the Hawkeyes, but first year as a head coach- EVER.)

Leading the way for the Hawkeye Women’s Tennis team is junior Sonja Molnar, who won the Platinum Flight bracket this weekend. She also competes as the number one singles player on the team, which is apparently like playing first chair in an orchestra. Molnar went 28-9 last year in singles competition, finishing with the 55th individual ranking nationally and 3rd individual ranking in the region. She leads the team, both as a tennis player and as an Academic all-Big Ten and letter winner.

The other bracket winner from the weekend was senior Jessica Young, who championed the Gold Flight bracket.

Let’s play “Did You Know?”.

Did you know…

…that The University of Iowa Women’s Tennis team has zero players from the state of Iowa? There are two players from Illinois (Lynne Poggensee-Wei and Christina Harazin), one player from Pennsylvania, Michigan and Kansas (Alexis Dorr Jessica Young and Ally Majercik, respectively) one player from Ontario (Sonja Molnar) and one player from Guatemala (Cassandra Escobar).

… of the seven players currently listed on the roster, only one is an under classman? (Freshman Christina Harazin) The rest are either juniors or seniors.
…Head Coach Katie Dougherty is a graduate of Wisconsin? After graduating, Dougherty spent time honing her coaching skills at Penn State and Wisconsin. It seems she knows her way around a few Big Ten campuses.

So stay tuned to this tennis team. The fall schedule is quick and brief, with most of the heavy lifting done in the spring. However, the fall schedule gives a nice preview of things to come.

So far, I like what I see.

Hawkeye teams approaching Big Ten Schedule

Three of Iowa’s teams are set to begin Big Ten play this week, and each Hawkeye team is approaching the conference from a different angle.

For the Hawkeye Field Hockey team, the Big Ten conference schedule is a chance to kick start a stagnant season. They currently sit at 2-5, and hit the road this weekend for two games, including a matchup against #5 Michigan State in East Lansing. The season hasn’t gone as planned so far, but all can change with a good Big Ten record.

“This is kind of the second season,” said Iowa Field Hockey coach Tracey Griesbaum, “starting the conference…I think we have to feel like we have an opportunity to win a Big Ten championship.”

The Field Hockey team’s last game was a 2-0 win against Ball State, a much needed victory for a squad that was fiending for a win. Hmm, a win over Ball State before the Big Ten schedule. Sounds like fun.

When asked if she plans on treating the preparation for the MSU game any different, Griesbaum said the preparation, for the most part, stays the same.

For the Iowa Soccer team, the Big Ten schedule is a chance to keep it rolling. The squad started the Big Ten season against #18 Minnesota last night, holding the nationally ranked Gophers to a 1-1 tie on a rain soaked, chilly Thursday night. The Iowa Soccer team is easily the hottest team in the Iowa athletic department right now, (especially after the football team’s performance in Arizona) currently sitting at 7-2-1.

The soccer team has only lost one of the last nine games, and since the season opening loss to DePaul, has outscored their opponents by a combined 23-5, including six shutouts and two games of only one goal scored by the opponent. Only Nebraska, who beat the Hawks 3-1 on September 19th have managed to score more than 2 goals against the Hawks all season.

Now the Big Ten schedule arrives and the Iowa Soccer team has the momentum on their side. After a Sunday afternoon match against St. Louis, the Hawkeye Soccer team will plunge headfirst into conference play, starting October 3rd at Wisconsin.

For the Iowa Volleyball team, the Big Ten schedule will probably answer the most questions. Right now this team sits at 5-4. Not bad. However, the volleyball team has lost 3 straight matches and needs to beat #22 Michigan on the road Friday night to maintain a winning record. After the match against Michigan it’s over to East Lansing for the 8-3 Spartans.

The Hawkeyes desperately need to keep the record on the winning side, but this weekend’s competition makes it a daunting challenge.
The entire non-conference record mean so very little once the Big Ten schedule starts; a winning team can come crashing down, and struggling team can flip the switch and win conference.

In the end, it’s the conference schedule that holds the most weight, just ask Mr. Ferentz.

No Time to Waste for Iowa Field Hockey

The Iowa Hawkeye Field Hockey team entered the 2010 season ranked #19. They sit at 1-5 on the season.

It was easy to over look the forst two losses of the season, after all, when you loose to #6 Wake Forest and #1 North Carolina, you can't get too upset. But after losses to Miami (OH) and Kent State, you begin to worry a little.

Now the Hawkeyes need a big confidence boost against Ball State on Saturday before enter Big Ten play against a tenacious #5 Michigan State team. (When Coach Tracy Griesbaum visited the KRUI studio in August, they pointed to MSU as thier biggest field hockey rival.)

The Hawks lead the series with Ball State by an incredible 18-2, and last beat the Cardinals by a score of 6-1 in 2005. All signs say the Hawkeyes should come out on top. But so far nothing has gone as planned for the Iowa Field Hockey team.

The field hockey season flies fast,the Hawks only have four home games left, and then start the Big Ten Tournament on November 4th. It may not seem like it, but a record of 2-5 is miles away from 1-6. No time to waste...

Football Win Means Little if Hawks Don't Back it Up- With Academics

The Cy-Hawk Trophy stays in Iowa City.

Rejoice Hawkeyes!

But the most important competition is yet to come: Academics.

Right now ISU has a win in volleyball, and of course the Hawks have the big football victory.

But a dominant performance on the football field means so very little if we don’t back it up in the books.

I don’t yet know how this “academics” thing is going to work. All I know right now is that “academics” is listed on the Cy-Hawk series website, and that it is scheduled for November 13th in Iowa City. (In fact, three events, Men’s and Women’s Cross Country plus “academics” are scheduled for November 13th, making it the biggest single day in the series.)

This could be an interesting year for the Cy-Hawk series. There are still 11 competitions to be played, including wrestling, men’s and women’s basketball, swimming and gymnastics.

I think academics should be worth more than 2 points. Like six or seven points. I know this is an athletic series, but what represents a university better than academics? The Hawkeyes could sweep the rest of the athletic competitions and loose the academics events, and forget about it. Cyclones get the bragging rights.

Right now the series sits at 3-2 Hawkeyes. The football game counts as a tie breaker, being worth 3 points; all other competition being worth 2.

But this academic event is worth more than points in a series. It’s worth bragging rights as the smarter school, something I would trade the Cy-Hawk Trophy for in a heartbeat.

A Lot More Than a W on the Line Against Huskies

Close.

Well not really.

The University of Iowa volleyball team got worked out of the gym Friday night against the well-oiled-machine that was the Iowa State Cyclones. (Yes, Iowa won the football game, but I doubt that means a whole lot to Sharon Dingman) But the Hawkeyes had little time to lick their wounds. (Can a Hawk lick its wounds?) They quickly turned around to find another athletic and talented team standing in their way: the Drake Bulldogs.

Iowa dropped the match against Drake, but unlike being swept by ISU, the Drake match was interesting. Dare I say exciting? Although the Hawkeyes won the first set against Drake, they were unable to hang on, eventually falling in 5 sets. It was interesting, but when the air was cleared it was still a mark in the L column.
So now the Hawkeyes have dropped two in a row for the first time all season. Okay. They still sit at 5-3, and still have a lot of potential this season.

Iowa has one match at Northern Illinois on September 19th before entering a gauntlet that is the Big Ten volleyball schedule. Right out of the gate, the Hawks hit the highway for Big Ten play: #22 Michigan and 7-3 Michigan State.

Although the value of a season largely is defined by the conference schedule, this NIU match will be very tellingfor this squad. How they perform against the Huskies could set the table for the rest of the season. Do they bounce back strong after losing two in a row to interstate rivals? Do they lose confidence and tailspin into the dirt?

They are talented. They are young. The need something positive before the Big Ten schedule. Before the Wolverines.

They need to at least beat the Huskies, preferably sweep the Huskies. If not, this could be a long fall for the 2010 Hawkeye volleyball team.

It seems to me that a lot more than a W is on the line when the Hawkeyes visit the Huskies.

Volleyball Serves up First Taste of Cy-Hawk Series

The Iowa Hawkeye volleyball team will start the Cy-Hawk series tonight in Carver-Hawkeye Arena, and hoping to put together an upset over the #11 Cyclones. Both teams are playing well, and both teams deeply want to get a win over the in-state rival.

While the majority of Iowa’s volleyball team consists of out-of-staters, there are 4 native Iowan on the roster. Four players, out of 13 on the roster, who know all too well what this rivalry means. Four players (at least) who know that the Cy-Hawk rivalry goes further than football and deeper than sports. On the Ames side, five players are native Iowans, and they surely have spread the word about what the Cy-Hawk series means to the state.

Hawkeyes don’t want to beat the Cyclones, we want to dominate them. Hawkeyes want to be bigger, faster, stronger, smarter, better looking and drive a fancier car than the Cyclones. And the same goes for the Cyclones, many of whom would rather prefer their football team go 1-11 and beat the Hawkeye than go 6-6 and receive a bowl bid.

The Cyclones volleyball team currently sits at 6-1; their only loss coming to then #13 Florida. Most recently, the ISU volleyball team knocked off #18 Northern Iowa, making short work of the Panthers in three sets. The Hawkeyes also sit with one loss, but haven’t yet faced the caliber of competition that ISU brings to Carver tonight.

The Hawkeye leaders include Mallory Husz, who has 84 kills, a team high, and Becky Walters (Upper Deck Beck), who is second on the team with 69. Walters also has 35 digs, a display of her senior experience and ability to do a little bit of everything well. The Hawkeyes need to keep it close. Iowa seems to start slow, being 2-4 in first sets. However, the Hawks have a winning record in all other sets, including 3-0 in match deciding fifth sets. The only problem: Iowa State has yet to be forced into a fifth set. Four of their six wins came in sweeps, the other two in four sets. They haven’t been pushed, yet. (FYI- ISU’s lone loss to Florida came in four sets.

Sharon Dingman and senior leader Becky Walters will be tested, but this is a great chance to put their stamp on the college volleyball ranks. If the squad can come together and play good team volleyball, they can hang with the Cyclones. If they keep it close, anything can happen. And maybe, just maybe, the Hawkeye volleyball team can start the weekend, and the Cy-Hawk series, with a win. Either way, we all know the Hawks are still smarter, better looking and probably drive fancier cars.

2010-11 Wrestling Schedule Leaves Me Wanting More

The University of Iowa athletics department recently released the schedule for the 2010-2011 wrestling team, and while I am excited to get things going for the Hawkeye grapplers this season, I am, quite honestly, severely disappointed with this year’s schedule.
Not only do the Hawkeyes miss a dual meet against Big Ten foes Wisconsin and Illinois, the Hawks are not scheduled to participate in the 2011 Cliff Keen National Duals Tournament in Cedar Falls!

I can get over not wrestling Illinois, but losing the dual against the Badgers seems like an egregious offense. Wisconsin head wrestling coach (and Cedar Rapids native) Barry Davis is a former Hawkeye athlete, and one of the first star wrestlers under Dan Gable. At Iowa, Davis was a four-time All-American and three-time NCAA champion. Although Wisconsin doesn’t reach the same level of Iowa on the mat, this dual always included a little fire. Most notably, two years ago Iowa wrestler Ryan Morningstar and Badger Andrew Howe slugged it out through four overtime periods. The match was finally settled off of riding time, but not before an all out shouting match involving Tom Brands, Barry Davis, Dan Gable, and more than a few rabid Hawkeye fans. All the while, Howe and Morningstar were too winded to do anything but focus on the next breath of air.

But to drop the dual tournament! For shame! The last two year, I have had the privilege of covering wrestling for KRUI. While attending the 2010 NCAA Championships in Omaha was a great highlight, I enjoyed the duals tournament more than anything. You get to see all the best dual match-ups, and both of the Iowa wrestling rivals are in attendance: ISU and Minnesota. Now the duals tournament is lacking the Hawkeyes, pulling away both fans from Iowa and interest from other schools that get the chance to beat Goliath. N

This year the duals will feature Ohio State, UNI, ISU, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Virginia Tech and Cornell, among others, but no Hawks. Not only do these squads miss the opportunity to knock off the Hawkeyes, but the Hawkeyes miss the chance to sharpen their skills against top notch opponents. And, among other black-and-gold faithful, I miss the chance to see it!

I can't wait for the ISU meet, and look forward to the Midlands Championship, but right now the 2010-11 Iowa wrestling schedule feels like a bratwurst with no sauerkraut: good, but lacking.

Cross Country Teams off to Fine Start

Both Iowa Cross Country teams started the 2010 season this past weekend, and things couldn't have gone any better for the Hawkeye runners...or joggers... or...dogtrotters...opened the 2010 campaign at the Hawkeye Invitational in winning form, displaying a level of endurance that even Tom Brands would admire.

The men's and women's teams are a combined 4-0 after sweeping the competition at the Hawkeye Invitational in Iowa City. Wins over Illinois State and Missouri-Kansas City rang in the 2010 season, and brought both teams out in a confident fashion.

Leading the way for the Iowa men was sophomore Jeff Thode, who took third place in the men’s 6K run with an overall time of 19:04. (Thode took first place in this event last year) Team captain Mark Battista was right behind him with a time of 19:07, good enough for fourth. Although the best Iowa finish was only third, the Hawks also took fourth through seventh place, giving them enough points for the victory.

For the women, Iowa’s Lauren Hardesty won the 3K, and the Hawks took the top four finishes, giving them a pair of dual wins.

The Hawkeye cross country teams are not done in Iowa City however. This coming weekend the Hawks will canter in the Iowa Invitational. That’s right, lat week it was the Hawkeye Invitational, next week the Iowa Invitational. I’m still waiting for the Herky Invitational.

Iowa Soccer Puts the Clamps on Adversaries

Turns out the most notable defense at the University of Iowa may not belong to the #9ranked Hawkeye football team. This weekend, Head Coach Ron Rainey’s women’s soccer team put together a 6-0 win over the intrastate rival Northern Iowa Panthers. This marks the 4th shutout the Hawkeye soccer team has posted this season; that’s four shutouts in five games.

After going scoreless themselves in the season opener against DePaul, the Iowa women’s soccer team seems to have pulled the hard 180.

In the past four games, the Hawkeyes have out worked their opponents by a combined score of 12-0. Not all of the wins were blowouts however: most notably, a 1-0 nail biter against Central Michigan, which saw a lone second half goal off the foot of forward Alyssa Cosnek be the difference. The lesson here seems to be that the Hawkeyes can win with 1-0 close calls or 6-0 out right beat downs. (For people who can only think in touchdowns, 6-0 in soccer = 42-0 in football.)

The Hawkeyes have used a swarming team effort to keep their opponents out of the net. In the last four games, the Hawkeyes have taken 61 shots. Hawkeye opponents have only mustered 35.

Although it took the Hawkeyes 24 minutes to get the first goal against UNI on Sunday, Iowa found the back of the net for their second goal less than five minutes later. It was open season after that, as the Hawkeyes used a total team effort to secure the win over the Panthers of the northland. Each of the six goals can from a different player, and five Hawkeye players added to their season assist totals, led by Stefani Campbell who had two assists in the match. Also, ten Iowa players took shots at the Northern Iowa goal. In comparison, only four Panther players took shots. (FYI- The Hawkeyes took 19 total shots to UNI’s 7)


Yes, the season is young and the real test for Ron Rainey’s squad will come when Big Ten competition starts in late September against Minnesota, but right now you have to be optimistic about this team. This is a talented squad with a lot of senior leadership and experience. Judging from the last four games the Iowa Hawkeye soccer teams knows what it's doing, offensively and defensivly.

Never too Early to Start a Rally

Today is Thursday, September 02, 2010, and all of Iowa is preparing for the first kickoff of the 2010 Hawkeye Football season. We got Fry Fest, Hawkapalooza, football pregame shows and even an attempt at the world record for the biggest hokey pokey dance, all in the name of Hawkeye football! We Iowans and our non-resident black and gold brethren are ready for smash mouth rushing and lock down defense.

But I want to take this chance to start the rallying cry for a different event- one that takes place at the end of November. The day after Thanksgiving to be exact. The Iowa Hawkeye Volleyball team will host #1 ranked Penn State- that’s right, I’m starting the rally cry for all Hawkeye fans to pack Carver for a volleyball match that takes place in two months!

The Iowa Hawkeye volleyball program has been on a steady rise since the arrival of head coach Sharon Dingman in 2008.

In 2007, the Iowa Hawkeyes finished 9-22 overall and a disappointing 1-19 in Big Ten play. The year before, they had two wins in the conference. Obviously, the program was struggling.

After head coach Cindy Fredrick (mother of former UNI basketball star Ali Farokhmanesh, and childhood friend of my mother; not sure which is a greater claim-to-fame) left the program in December of 2007, it opened the door for Gary Barta to hire someone who could turn the program around. In the spring, Barta would announce the hiring of Illinois State coach Sharon Dingman, who led her team to the 2007 NCAA Tournament and brought over 330 career wins to Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

Right out of the gate, the Hawkeyes showed the signs of improvement. Highlights of the 2008 season included a sweep of 18th ranked Wisconsin in the Big Ten opener, and the snapping an 18 match road losing streak, which came in Columbus, Ohio. Dingman would finish her first season 14-18 overall, but most importantly, 6-14 in conference play. No, it wasn’t a winning record, but it was much, much better.

In 2009 Iowa Volleyball continued the climb. Although the record didn’t show it, (the Hawks finished with 5 Big Ten wins) the 2009 team was another step in the right direction. Most notably, the Hawkeyes won a set against #1 Penn State. No, they didn’t win the match, but the then two time defending national champion Nittany Lions had won 141 straight sets! The Hawkeyes broke that up. Not great, but it is something to hang your hat on…or knee pads in this case. (FYI- The 11 Big Ten wins in 2008-09 was the most since 2000-01)

Now the Hawkeyes are off to a 3-0 start for 2010. Coach Sharon Dingman and senior 6-3 leader Becky Walters (“Upper Deck Beck”, as she is known at KRUI) are looking to continue the positive trend, but it won’t be easy. As of today, Penn State is still on top, and Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, and Iowa State are all ranked in the top 25.

So as of right now, I am officially driving the band wagon! Calling all Hawkeye fans, we need to get behind this team! Single match tickets are $3 and FREE for students and youth. (Beats $100 for a football game!)

Let’s get it started Friday, September 10th against #12 Iowa State, keep it rolling in Carver when we welcome #8 Minnesota, #5 Illinois and #19 Michigan. And finally, Friday night, November 26th, against current #1 and three time defending national champions. Penn State is to Women’s Volleyball what Iowa is to Wrestling. Let’s pack Carver-Hawkeye Area, root for the Iowa and see what happens… GO HAWKS!