Iowa State Falls to Texas Tech, 3-1

Saturday, September 25

Ames, Iowa

TBA

Iowa State

Texas Tech

Iowa State Falls to Texas Tech, 3-1

09.25.2004 | Volleyball

By: Iowa State University

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State volleyball team was unable to overcome a stifling Texas Tech defense in a Big 12 match at Hilton Coliseum tonight, and dropped the match to the Red Raiders, three games to one. ISU, playing in their second home match of the season, lost its fourth match of the year, and the third in league play. The Cyclones won game two, 30-28, but were beaten in games one, three and four by scores of 30-28, 30-27 and 30-22, respectively.

Iowa State was done in by a number of factors, not the least of which was an outstanding defensive effort by Texas Tech. The Red Raiders held ISU to a .098 hitting percentage, its second-worst percentage of the season. Texas Tech notched 14 blocks in the match, six better than the Cyclone total, and TTU forced 38 Cyclone attack errors, the most Iowa State has had in any match this season. The Red Raider defensive effort helped them overcome a poor serving night, as TTU committed 19 service errors on the evening.

"I was very disappointed in the way we played tonight," said Iowa State head coach Linda Crum. "We didn't perform the way we are capable of, and had a lot of unforced errors in every game of the match."

Katie Jessen, a sophomore from Kansas City, Mo., led ISU offensively. Jessen pounded 17 kills on 54 attempts, tying her for a team season-high in attack attempts. Jessen also tallied 10 digs on the defensive side of the net, giving her the second double-double of her 2004 campaign.

Brittany Dalager, a senior outside hitter from Minneota, Minn., was the other Cyclone to record a double-double on the evening. Dalager slammed 12 kills and tallied 26 digs for ISU. Her dig total was the highest of the season for Dalager, and tied a team season-high in that category.

Ashlie McWee, a junior middle blocker, was the most efficient offensive player for ISU. The Aurora, Colo., native pounded 11 kills on 27 attempts, good for a .222 hitting percentage in the match. McWee added two block assists to the Iowa State defensive effort.

Sophomore Katie Churm had another outstanding defensive effort for the Cyclones. Churm, from Irvine, Calif., leads the squad in digs and digs per game, and tied Dalager for the team-high for the match and for the 2004 season with 26. That 26 dig effort also set a new career mark for the second-year libero.

The loss moves ISU's record to 7-4 overall and 1-3 in Big 12 play. The Cyclones travel to Columbia, Mo., on Wednesday, Sept. 29, to face Missouri in another league match-up, with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m.