DeKalb, Illinois - Fighting tooth and nail with the Hawkeyes of Iowa, the Tigers fought back from a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth and decisive set, but could not finish off the comeback as Pacific fell to Iowa, 3-2, on Saturday, Aug. 29. The loss for the Tigers split their weekend record at 1-1 while the Hawkeyes improved to 2-0 on the day. 

Set scores for the match were: 25-23, 25-18, 22-25, 19-25, 15-12.

Picking up where she left off the day prior, junior Lexi Elman tied her career high for kills in a match as the third-year outside tagged the Hawkeyes for a match-high 22 kills on .304 hitting. In addition to matching her career-high in a single match, Elman hit the 500-kill plateua for her career with her first kills of the match. Trailing behind Elman, junior Alicja Wilk came up with 11 kills on .346 hitting from the middle as she also added three blocks to her scoring totals.

However, the Tigers' tandem was countered by the Hawkeyes own pair of attackers as Jess Janota and Lauren Brobst combined for 33 kills of their own from the middle and outside. When in doubt, Iowa went to Janota, who hit .500 in the match as she made just four errors.

A back-and-forth battle from the start, the two teams traded points throughout the early goings with neither team able to grow a lead until the Tigers' went on the first mini-run of the match to turn a 11-10 led into a four-point advantage at 14-10. As she had done the day prior, the mini-run coincided with the serve of sophomore Maycie LaBass as she came up with yet another ace to add to her totals in Illinois. However, the lead would be brief for the Tigers as the Hawkeyes were able to turn the tides of the opening set with a 10-3 run that included three aces of their own. Up 20-16, Iowa would not relinquish its advantage the rest of the way as Pacific was able to close to within one four different times before finally falling on an attack error to end the set.

After the close fight in set one, the Tigers could not find their footing in set two as the Hawkeyes built and early advantage before pulling away for the seven-point win. For Iowa, the set was dominated by Janota as the big middle came up with six kills on just eight attacks to counter Elman's six kills in the frame. Both teams struggled to stop the opposition as the Tigers hit .417 in the set but allowed Iowa to hit .565.

In a set reminiscent of the opening stanza of the afternoon, the Tigers and Hawkeyes again found themselves in a back-and-forth contest in the third set as Pacific tried to stay alive in the match. Flipping their roles, Iowa was the one to build a small lead in the middle of the set as the Hawkeyes pushed their advantage over the Tigers to four at 16-12 before seeing Pacific claw back. Again, it was the serve of LaBass that got the Tigers back into the set and the match as the young outside served Pacific into the lead for the first time in the set at 17-16. Trailing again at 22-19 and with their backs against the wall, the Tigers mounted another furious rally as Pacific scored the final six points of the set to capture their first set win of the day. During the run, the Tigers picked up kills from three different attackers including senior Holland Crenshaw and redshirt-freshman Alex Holt, who also combined on a block to put Pacific back in the lead at 23-22.

Back in the match, the Tigers clamped down on the Hawkeyes in set four as they held Iowa's attack to just .152 hitting while forcing Janota into half of her match mistakes in just the single set. Overall, Pacific came up with three team blocks in the frame while also coming up with 13 digs to keep the floor clean. Leading the defensive efforts was Elman as the junior picked up nearly half of her team-high 15 digs in the fourth set alone. Additionally, Elman tallied six kills on 12 attacks in the frame to lead the Tigers to a coast-to-coast victory in the set. Leading early by four, the Tigers would let the Hawkeyes get no closer than one at 14-13, before pulling away for the win.

Despite all the work and all the momentum of forcing a fifth set, the comeback was not to be as unforced errors early turned a promising start into a hole the Tigers could not climb out of. Three times the Tigers would close the gap to just one point, but a mental mistake with the match at 12-11 proved to be the final nail for Pacific's comeback hopes.

In addition to her 22 kills, Elman came up with 15 digs to post her second-straight double-double at the NIU Invitational and her 16th career double-double. Senior captain Kimmy Whitson just missed her own double-double as the fourth-year setter posted nine kills on 11 attacks while adding 44 assists and five blocks. LaBass would finish with five kills, three aces, and seven digs while Crenshaw tallied six kills and four blocks.

For the Hawkeyes, Janota lead the way with 17 kills while Brobst added 16 kills and four blocks. As a team, the Hawkeye nearly became the first team to hit over .300 against the Tigers in since the 2013 season but fell just short at .299. Pacific finished the match at .270.

The Tigers are immediately back in action as they close out the tournament against Northern Illinois at 5:00 pm PT.