Iowa State Wins Big Against Texas, 3-1

Sunday, November 2

Ames, Iowa

TBA

Iowa State

Texas

Iowa State Wins Big Against Texas, 3-1

11.02.2003 | Volleyball

By: Iowa State University

AMES, Iowa - Katie Kruenegel had a career-high 17 kills and Brittany Dalager had a season-high 23 digs to lead Iowa State to a 3-1 win over Texas Sunday afternoon at Hilton Coliseum. The win, which snaps a five-match losing streak for the Cyclones, was the first-ever over the Texas Longhorns in 16 tries. With the win, Iowa State improves to 11-13 overall and 3-10 in Big 12 play. Bethany Howden led Texas with 32 kills as Texas falls to 11-11 overall and 6-7 in league play.

ISU's win over Texas marks the first home Big 12 win since it defeated Oklahoma, 3-1, on Oct. 17, 2001. It was also the first time ISU has won three Big 12 matches in a season since 1996 and has had more than 10 wins in a season since the 1995 squad went 22-12.

The Cyclones played a solid match against Texas, hitting .281 compared to Texas' .268 hitting percentage from the floor. The Longhorns had more kills than the Cyclones, 74-68, and one more dig than ISU, 60-59, but the Cyclones had 15 blocks to Texas' 14. Iowa State also had three less serving errors than the Longhorns.

"I am really proud of the kids today," head coach Linda Crum said. "They really took advantage of the opportunitiesthey had to win and that was huge for them. We were really more consistent today. They started to see where the match could go either way and decided themselves that they wanted to win and really played great."

Senior Lindsey Chapman played solidly in the setter position with a season-high 54 assists and a career-high seven kills and eight digs. Nicole Lorenzen had a career-high nine kills and freshman Katie Churm had a career-best 11 digs. Sophomore Ashlie McWee had 12 kills and five block assists and senior Renae Pruess was stellar on the outside with 13 kills, eight digs and two block assists.

"Today's match was very exciting for us," sophomore Katie Kruenegel said. "We are beyond excited about how things went today. It was a total team effort and we can really build on this for our match against Kansas State."

The two teams played pretty evenly in game one with Texas having the slight edge on kills with 17 compared to ISU's 15. The Longhorns hit .286 from the floor, while holding ISU to .200 and defeated the Cyclones, 30-26.

The Cyclones responded well in game two, pounding 18 kills and hitting .256 from the floor. The Longhorns were held to a .182 hitting percentage and 15 kills. ISU served solidly to win the second game, 30-27, as the teams went into the lockerroom tied at 1-1.

The Cyclones stepped it up and played strong in the third game. They pounded 19 kills and although Texas had 22 kills and hit .312 from the floor, ISU hit a game-high .326 from the floor and again used solid serving and great blocking to win a tight game three, 32-30.

Iowa State pulled out another tight game in the fourth stanza, hitting a match-high .353 from the floor along with 16 kills. Texas had 20 kills but only hit .293 from the floor and ISU took game four, 31-29, to secure the 3-1 upset.

"They played with a lot of poise and confidence and really had that attitude that 'we are not going to lose this match' today," Crum said. "They played with a lot of heart and the kids earned this win today. This is a big step in where we want to go. They worked hard to get here and they didn't stop believing in themselves. They just did a really good job."

Iowa State hits the road the next week when it travels to Manhattan, Kan., to take on No. 7 Kansas State on Wednesday, Nov. 5. The match is slated to begin at 6 p.m.