No. 25 ISU Uses Season Best to Sweep Senior Night

AMES, Iowa – No. 25 Iowa State (18-4) produced one of the best performances of head coach Jay Ronayne's tenure with a season-best score of 196.700 to win a tri-meet over No. 19 Missouri (196.050) and Iowa (195.600) Friday night at Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones' score ties for the highest score over Ronayne, with the previous instance coming in his first season, 2007, when ISU posted a 196.700 to win a tri-meet over Denver and Iowa.

Iowa State finished the regular season slate at Hilton Coliseum undefeated at home. It was Senior Night in Ames, with senior Haylee Young picking up event wins in the vault and the floor exercise. Meaghan Sievers won the all-around with a career-best score of 39.425.

Tonight could have gone in two different directions," Ronayne reflected. "I've seen it before. Sometimes the emotions override all common sense, but the seniors kept everything in check tonight. I give credit to this team for being able to keep it all together.

"I am just so proud of this team and they are a team in every sense," Ronayne continued. "They truly are a great team. We approached tonight as if we had to win. We had to beat Iowa and Missouri and preach our winning culture."

The win over the Hawkeyes also gave the Cyclones two points in the 2017-18 Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series. Iowa leads the competition 13-10 on the academic year.

Floor Exercise
Iowa State fired off an outstanding 49.450 in the floor to close out the meet. All six Cyclones scored at least 9.875. Haylee Young closed out the night with a 9.925 to tie her career high, which also came against Iowa inside Hilton Coliseum two years ago. Meaghan Sievers had her best floor routine of her career with her first 9.900 on floor as a Cyclone. The 9.875s by Ariana Orrego and Molly Russ were career-highs, Kelsey Paz's 9.875 tied her season-best and Briana Ledesma rounded out the group with a 9.875.

Senior Haylee Young
"Tonight reminded me of Senior Night two years ago at Hilton. I knew if we hit our floor routines we were going to be fine. The girls before me hit great routines, that made me proud and I wanted to do something for them. I saw how much they were fighting for me and I wanted to fight for them because they all have my back."

Uneven Bars
The Cyclones notched a season-high 49.300 on bars, tying for 16th in school history for team score on the bars. Sievers led the way here as she hit her season-high and tied her career-high with a 9.900. Paz was the breakout performer on bars, going 0.050 higher that her previous career best with a 9.875. Madeline Johnson and Hilary Green each recorded 9.850s, while Ledesma had a 9.825. Young rounded out the ISU effort with a 9.750.

Senior Kelsey Paz
"It was absolutely amazing. I had a really good mindset about it, decided to soak in every moment and it didn't have to be prefect. Nilson (Medeiros Savage) really supported me, and the whole team really supported me. This was probably the best feeling I had all night because it has been such an uphill battle."

Vault
ISU bounced back from a first-routine fall to finish with a 49.075. Young got the event with as she landed a 9.875. The Cyclones got 9.850s from Sievers and Sophia Steinmeyer, with the latter tying her career high. Paz notched a 9.775, while Kelly Martin got a 9.725. The Cyclones were able to drop Natalia Ros Vaquer's fall of 8.975.

Junior Meaghan Sievers
"Our first rotation wasn't exactly as we planned, but everyone came back quick from that. It didn't damper our spirits and carried us through the meet."

Balance Beam
The Cyclones finished with a 48.875 for the evening. Russ led the procession with a 9.850 to finish tied for second in the event. ISU got a pair of 9.775s from Sievers and Steinmeyer, with the latter being a last-minute sub. Orrego got herself a 9.750, and Paz rounded out the scorers with a 9.725. Young posted a fall, but the Cyclones were able to drop her 9.375 from the team score.

All-Around
Sievers got the win via a new career-high score of 39.425. Paz just missed out on equalizing her career-best as she finished fourth with a 39.250. Young's fall on beam saw her finish sixth with a 38.925.

Up Next
The Cyclones wrap up the regular season next Friday on the road in Fayetteville in a tri-meet at No. 10 Arkansas, which also includes Big 12 foe and No. 15 Denver. The meet will start in Barnhill Arena at 6:45 p.m.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Hilary Green

Madeline Johnson

Briana Ledesma

Kelly Martin

Ariana Orrego

Kelsey Paz

Natalia Ros Vaquer

Molly Russ

Meaghan Sievers

Sophia Steinmeyer

Haylee Young

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Iowa State University Athletics