Volleyball Comes Up Short in Back-and-Forth Battle with Luther
Sep 29, 2015
BOX SCORE
DUBUQUE, Iowa - Senior Klaudia Basierak's 23 kills weren't enough as the University of Dubuque volleyball team lost a competitive bout to Luther College, 3-1(25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-22) on Tuesday night.
The Spartans (9-9, 1-2 Iowa Conference) looked as if they would pull away after taking the early lead in multiple sets but the Norse refused to back down. Basierak, the Iowa Conference leader in kills heading into today's game, and Co. had one of their most productive nights of the season after totaling 52 kills, but offset it with a pedestrian .160 hitting percentage.
Despite falling in the first set, 25-22, the Spartans posted a game-high hitting percentage of .312 in with Basierak racking up seven kills. Oddly enough, UD hit .154 in their set two win and kept it close in sets three and four while hitting .107 and .119, respectively.
Sophomore Alyssa Cose and junior Hannah Zieser split time as setter with Cose dishing out 26 assists and Zieser distributing 16. The Iowa Conference blocks leader at 1.12 per set, UD junior Anna Runge, stopped a game-high six shots on the night.
Luther (12-6, 3-0) utilized three players with 12+ kills to remained undefeated in conference play after sweeping both Simpson and Luther earlier this season. The Spartans now trail the Norse, 33-32, in the all-time series and have fallen to Luther in four of their last five meetings.
The Spartans head to the Wheaton College Invite in Wheaton, Ill. this Friday, October 2 and Saturday, October 3 for a pair of games on each day.