It’s Friday, October 1st 2010, and the first full month of Iowa Hawkeye athletics has come and gone. (“They grow up so fast…”)
We all know about what the football team did in the month of September, but how about the rest of their black-and-gold brethren? Here is the first of a look back at the month that was, starting with a team began a 2010 campaign on the toughest two game road trip among any Hawkeye schedule.
IOWA HAWKEYE FIELD HOCKEY
Head coach Tracy Griesbaum said that the season opening road trip against #6 Wake Forest and #1 North Carolina would be a good test to start 2010. I had my concerns, starting with the argument that this is a relatively young team, (just don’t ask senior Sarah Pergine) that needed time to develop it’s playing style together. I was afraid that facing two top 10 teams in the first two games could be detrimental to the team’s confidence.
Unless, of course, the Hawkeyes could beat one of those teams.
Alas, the then #19 Hawkeyes ended up leaving Chapel Hill with an 0-2 start, which was not a big surprise.
What was a surprise is what came next: A 5-1 loss at the hands of Miami of Ohio, a team that should, at least historically speaking, be throttled by the Hawks.
After picking up a win over Brown on Labor Day, the Hawks then went on a road trip the next week to Kent, OH. Again, the Hawkeyes returned to Iowa City with an 0-2 road trip, this time losing to Stanford (in overtime) and Kent State.
The Hawkeyes picked up a much needed 2-0 win over Ball State on Saturday the 18th. (You remember; the cool rainy day when the football team played in a mystical land where the temperature was 100 degrees and the game didn’t start until 9:30 at night) Well, for the field hockey team, this was a good Saturday.
Finally, the Hawks traveled to the state of Michigan to take on #5 Michigan State and Central Michigan.
In the MSU game, Iowa only rattled off 3 shots compared to the Spartans 11, and lost by a score of 1-0.
In the final match of September, the Hawkeyes defeated Central Michigan 1-0. This was the third shutout of the season for sophomore goalkeeper Kathleen “Murdy” McGraw; she had two all of last year.
The team is 3-6, but has won two of the last three, giving hope to a still young squad with alot of talent.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Thursday, September 30, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
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.
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.
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.
Friday, September 24, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, September 17, 2010
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...
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...
Thursday, September 16, 2010
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)