Iowa State Volleyball Falls to No. 24 Texas A&M in Season Finale

Saturday, November 29

College Station, Texas

TBA

Iowa State

Texas A&M

Iowa State Volleyball Falls to No. 24 Texas A&M in Season Finale

11.29.2003 | Volleyball

By: Iowa State University

COLLEGE STATION, Texas ? Renae Pruess had a game-high 15 kills and Brittany Dalager added 13 digs and 27 assists, but Iowa State fell to No. 24 Texas A&M, 3-0, Saturday night in College Station, Texas. With the loss, Iowa State ends the 2003 season with a 12-19 record and a 4-16 record in Big 12 play. Melissa Munsch and Carol Price led Texas A&M with 11 kills each as Texas A&M finishes the season with a 21-9 overall record.

The Aggies dominated the match both offensively and defensively, hitting .303 from the floor and collecting 55 kills. The Cyclones were limited to 33 kills, a .093 hitting percentage and 40 digs.

Sophomore Ashlie McWee had four kills, two digs, and two total blocks. Freshman Katie Jesssen, senior Michelle Gannon and freshman Nicole Lorenzen all added three kills. Senior Dana Koziol had seven digs for the Cyclones defensively, while junior Christine Smeele added five digs.

“I thought that we did some things well in the match,” head coach Linda Crum said. “I really thought in games two and three we did a really nice job of blocking. Brittany (Dalager) did a nice job of running the offense. There were definitely some positives in the match.”

In game one, Iowa State hit .079 compared to a game-high .444 from Texas A&M. The Cyclones had 10 kills while the Aggies had 19 kills and just three errors. Texas A&M took game one, 30-15.

Iowa State improved in game two, pounding 10 kills and hitting .081 from the floor, but Texas A&M hit .200 from the floor and had 16 kills to take game two, 30-25. The two teams headed to the locker-room with Texas A&M leading the match, 2-0.

Iowa State hit .111 in game three and had a match-high 13 kills, but A&M was solid offensively, hitting .283 from the floor along with 20 kills and only seven hitting errors to take game three, 20-23, and the match, 3-0.

“I really thought our seniors did a nice job tonight,” Crum said. “All three of them played really well. Renae (Pruess) had some nice kills for us, Dana (Koziol) played very well defensively and Michelle (Gannon) came in and really provided a spark when we needed one. I was really proud of the seniors tonight. They gave it their all and walked off the court tonight with no regrets in the effort they gave.”

“Overall, there were a lot of good points in this season. We had a lot of firsts, including our first-ever win over Texas, our first win over Iowa since 1995 and the most league wins Iowa State has had since the Big 12 formed in 1996. All of that is a huge step forward for us and it definitely gives us something to build on for next year.”