Cyclones Play Well in 3-1 Loss to No. 18 Kansas State

Wednesday, November 3

Ames, Iowa

TBA

Iowa State

Kansas State

Cyclones Play Well in 3-1 Loss to No. 18 Kansas State

11.03.2004 | Volleyball

By: Iowa State University

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State volleyball team played well enough to take one game from No. 18 Kansas State, but were not able to come up with crucial plays down the stretch in three games, as it dropped a 3-1 decision to the Wildcats in Hilton Coliseum tonight. The Cyclones captured game two, 30-25, and threatened in games three and four, but the savvy KSU squad came through in the clutch to win the match. ISU falls to 8-15 on the season and 1-13 in conference play, while Kansas State improves to 15-7 overall and 9-4 in league play.

The Cyclones competed well in the match despite the overall youthful makeup of the squad this evening. At times, Iowa State had three true freshman, two sophomores and a junior on the floor in the match. ISU also had a familiar face in a different spot tonight, as senior Brittany Dalager made her first start of the season in the libero position.

"I think if you actually look at the playing experience that's on the floor, you will realize that there is a lot of youth and inexperience out there," said ISU head coach Linda Crum. "And yet, we are competing well with the 18th-ranked team in the nation. It shows that we might be a scary team in this league, and would be even more scary if we could make a few more plays when we needed them to finish matches."

The two true freshmen, Meghan Ferrie, from Lee's Summitt, Mo., and Erin Boeve, a Steen, Minn., native were strong early on in game one. The two continually attacked the middle of the KSU defense for kills and joined with junior Ashlie McWee to build a 10-7 Iowa State lead early on. The Wildcats made a run later on to knot the score at 20 apiece, then went on a 10-6 run to close out game one by a 30-26 margin.

Katie Jessen, a sophomore from Kansas City, Mo., led ISU with nine kills in the game from the outside, while the aforementioned trio in the middle combined for five kills. Freshman Laura Cady, from Marshall, Minn., tallied seven digs in the game, bettering her previous season and career-high of six in the opening contest alone.

Game two saw both teams trading sideouts early on, and the score was tied at 13 midway through, when ISU went on a 7-3 run to pull ahead. The Cyclones relied on Jessen, who pounded two key kills, and timely blocking of Boeve, Nicole Lorenzen and junior setter Amanda Craig, who teamed with one another for two key blocks down the stretch in game two. ISU pulled away late to draw even with a 30-25 decision heading into the intermission.

Iowa State was firing on all cylinders offensively in the second game, hitting .229 while the Cyclones defense held KSU to a .100 hitting percentage. Jessen continued to dominate the edges, slamming nine more kills, while Ferrie added three. Dalager led the defensive effort in game two with seven digs and senior Christine Smeele added five.

Kansas State jumped out early in game three, building a 15-11 lead midway through. The Wildcats put together a 6-2 run to jump ahead 21-13 and never looked back en route to a 30-20 win. The Wildcats hit only .190 in the game, but held ISU to a .054 percentage defensively to take the 2-1 lead.

The Cyclones scrappy play kept them in game four, but it was too much KSU down the stretch, as the Wildcats outscored ISU 9-5 after Iowa State had climbed to within one, 21-20. Behind a sneaky finesse attack that included a number of tips and dumps, the Wildcats pulled away late to take a 30-25 game four decision and the match.

Iowa State had some outstanding performances on the night. Jessen headlined those efforts, as the sophomore pounded 21 kills, a team-high. That effort also set a new career-high for the Kansas City native and also established a new team season-high in kills. The previous best was Lorenzen's 20-kill effort against Northern Iowa. Jessen also had 55 attack attempts in the match, also a high on the team thus far this season.

"Katie really had a lot of fire for us tonight," said Crum. "She did two things really well. First she had really well-placed shots and secondly, she really stayed focused throughout the match and communicated really well for us."

Lorenzen, an outside hitter from Fremont, joined her position-mate in double figures tonight for the Cyclones, as she slammed 13 kills on 44 attempts. Lorenzen also tallied 11 digs on the night, good for her eighth double-double of the season.

"Nicole had a solid match for us," said Crum. "She teamed with Jessen to really give us some solid play from our outsides tonight, and it gave us a chance in this match."

Craig, a native of West Des Moines, also recorded a double-double in the match. The junior racked up 47 assists and had 15 digs on the evening. It was the 11th double-double effort of the year for Craig, and the Valley high alum leads the Cyclones in that category.

The ISU defense was outstanding tonight as well. The Cyclones held KSU to a .204 hitting percentage, 47 points below the Wildcats' average in Big 12 matches. Iowa State racked up 81 digs and eight blocks as well. Four players had double-figures in digs for the Cyclones, including Dalager, Smeele, Lorenzen and Craig. Dalager led the squad with 18, while Craig tallied 15 and Smeele added 13. Cady set her new career mark with nine digs in tonight's match.

The Cyclones will take to the road in their next match, a contest against Baylor on Saturday, Nov. 6 in Waco, Texas. The Bears handed ISU a 3-1 loss in the first meeting between the two teams at Hilton Coliseum on Oct. 9. This weekend's match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.