But I thought Rita wasn't there anymore?

According to an article on hawkcentral.com, Iowa Hawkeyes have lost the services of freshman Alicia Johnson, who has transferred to Northwest Missouri State (How many directional schools can a state have?).

Johnson played in 96 games for Cindy Fredrick, notching 98 kills and 147 digs in her freshman campaign.

Fredrick's response? "We were bummed." Ah, brevity. Actually, she said more than that, but we just like the "bummed" quote. Fredrick also added that "(Johnson) had the opportunity to transfer to the same school her sister played volleyball for."

Yeah, because the ability to transfer to NWMS is a rare occurrence... But, on the upside, NWMS went 14-19 this past season, as opposed to Iowa's 13-19, which means Johnson picks up an extra win in the deal.

The article's writer, Ryan Suchomel, doesn't try to sugar-coat the state of the Iowa program, closing the article with:

Fredrick will go into her fourth season still trying breathe life into a long-suffering program that has had just two winning seasons over the past 17 years. Iowa is 12-108 in Big Ten play over the past six seasons.

Zing!