Cyclones Defeat Kansas State, 3-1

AMES, Iowa ? Iowa State's defense has been hot of late. The trend continued on Wednesday as Iowa State had 13 blocks and 72 digs to defeat Kansas State, 3-1 (30-28, 30-25, 20-30, 30-25), at Hilton Coliseum.

With the win, Iowa State improved 15-7 overall and 7-5 in the Big 12, while Kansas State falls to 9-13 overall and 1-11 in conference action. The win also gave Iowa State its first season sweep of Kansas State since 1995.

“Kansas State is a much better team than its record shows,” said ISU head coach Christy Johnson. “They keep fighting every week. We will take this win.”

Iowa State is now 4-1 in its last five matches, a run which can be attributed to defense. The Cyclones are averaging 18.16 digs per game during the stretch.

“I don't feel like there is anyone that can beat us if we play well on defense,” said Johnson. “If we play relaxed we are a really good team and we have a shot to beat anyone.”

The Cyclones stayed the course against Kansas State, using a stifling defense to hold the Wildcats to a .204 hitting percentage. Leading the way for Iowa State was Katie Churm (18 digs) and Kaylee Manns (17 digs). Also reaching double-figures for ISU were Laura Cady and Nicole Lorenzen, who had 15 and 14, respectively. Cady's 15 was a season-high.

Erin Boeve paced the Cyclones at the net with six block assists while Jessica Klein had two solo blocks and a block assist. Freshman Diane Kieger provided a lift for ISU in the third game, adding a solo block and two block assists. Kieger ended the night with a solo and three block assists in addition to two kills.

While the defense was brilliant for ISU, the offense sputtered a bit, hitting under .250 as a team for the first time since facing Missouri on Oct. 6.

Katie Jessen had 15 kills and Lauren Cummings chipped in 14 for ISU in the win. Cummings hit .370 in the match to up her season hitting percentage to .347. Boeve also reached double-figures with 12 kills in the match.

The Cyclones got off to a good start with a 30-28 win in game one. ISU led almost the entire game, allowing just a single tie at 15-15. For every K-State run, ISU had an answer, allowing the Wildcats to within one point 10 times, but never surrendering the lead.

The Cyclones also took game two, 30-25, behind seven kills from Boeve and eight digs from Churm.

The Wildcats bounced back in game three, jumping out to an 8-0 lead and cruising to an easy 30-20 win.

“The matchups in the third game were difficult,” said Johnson. “We were unable to get out of the first rotation and before we knew it they were up 8-0.”

Iowa State finished the match with a 30-25 win in game four. They again held the lead for the length of the game, allowing just five tie scores, the last coming at 15-15.

Kansas State was led by Angie Lastra, who had 18 kills and seven digs in the match. Lauren Rosenthal had a match-high 20 digs for the Wildcat defense.

The Cyclones, who will enjoy their second bye of the Big 12 season this weekend, will be back in action next Wednesday, Nov. 1, when it travels to Missouri. First serve from Columbia is slated for 6:30 p.m.

Players Mentioned

Erin Boeve

Erin Boeve

Laura Cady

Laura Cady

Katie Churm

Katie Churm

Lauren Cummings

Katie Jessen

Katie Jessen

Diane Kieger

Jessica Klein

Jessica Klein

Nicole Lorenzen

Nicole Lorenzen

Kaylee Manns

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