Iowa State Set For UW-Milwaukee

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State volleyball team is set to face UW-Milwaukee on Friday at 5 p.m. in Madison, Wis., in the NCAA Championships. In the second match, the host and No. 10 national seed, Wisconsin, will face Notre Dame at 7 p.m. All matches will be held at the UW Field House, with the winners of the two first round matches meeting Saturday at 7 p.m. with a trip to the Austin Regional on the line.

The Cyclones, who will be making the second NCAA appearance in school history, finished fourth in the Big 12 to receive an at-large bid while Wisconsin-Milwaukee earned their sixth tournament appearance after defeating Illinois-Chicago in the Horizon League Championship.

Schedule
Friday, Dec. 1
Match 1: UW-Milwaukee vs. Iowa State - 5 p.m.
Match 2: Notre Dame at Wisconsin - 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 2
Match 3: Winner 1 vs. Winner 2 - 7 p.m.
Live Stats: Live Stats will be available on the NCAA website.
Live Video: There will be free live streaming video through Wisconsin's website. Please visit the NCAA Tournament Central page for more information.

For ticket information and all the latest information on Iowa State's second trip to the NCAA Volleyball Championship in school history please visit the NCAA Tournament Central page on Cyclones.com.

Cyclones Earn Championship Bid
Iowa State will be making its second appearance in the NCAA Championships. The Cyclones will face UW-Milwaukee on Friday, Dec. 1, at 5 p.m. in the first round of the single-elimination tournament. Should they win, ISU would face the winner of Wisconsin and Notre Dame. All matches will be played at the UW Field House in Madison, Wis.

ISU Tournament History
This is just the second NCAA Championship appearance for the Iowa State volleyball program. The other came in 1995, the last year of the Big Eight. In that tournament, ISU defeated No. 22 Idaho, 3-0 (15-13, 15-5, 15-10), at Hilton Coliseum in the first round. The Cyclones then traveled to South Bend, Ind., to face No. 12 Notre Dame, falling 3-0 (3-15, 14-16, 10-15) to the Fighting Irish. The Cyclones have played 332 matches since that match against UND.

Last Time Out
The Cyclones celebrated Senior Day with a thrilling 3-2 (30-27, 24-30, 30-28, 29-31, 15-9) victory over Colorado in their season finale. As had been the norm all year, Iowa State's seniors each had a major impact on the Cyclones' 20th win of the season. Nicole Lorenzen set a career-high and matched fellow senior Katie Churm with 26 digs. Katie Jessen and Jesse Klein capped off their home career with 10 and 11 kills, respectively.

The Cyclones were absolutely dominant on the defensive side of the net, posting a season-high 24.5 blocks on the Buffs, who qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

Block Assist Record Falls
Erin Boeve, who already holds the top two single-season block assist totals in school history, broke another record against Colorado. This time she became the school's all-time leader in career block assists. The junior currently has 363 in her career.

Honors Keep Adding Up
On Monday, Erin Boeve was named to the All-Big 12 first team and she was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year. The junior from Steen, Minn., was All-Big 12 honorable mention last season as a sophomore.

Turning Around a Program
ISU volleyball has seen an unbelievable turnaround under second year head coach Christy Johnson. The Cyclones have 21 Big 12 wins in 40 matches under Johnson. Prior to her arrival, the Cyclones won just 13 Big 12 matches in 180 tries.

ABOUT WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE (24-5)

Scouting the Panthers
Wisconsin-Milwaukee will be making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance, but first since 2002. The Panthers clinched a berth by winning the Horizon League Tournament. Milwaukee also won its fourth-straight Horizon League regular season title this year and will enter the postseason riding a school-record 15-match winning streak.

The Panthers are led by a pair of senior middle blockers, Horizon League Player of the Year Cheryl Hegemann and Horizon League Tournament MVP Sarah Moore. Milwaukee's regular starting lineup also includes seniors Melissa David and Monica Ferguson, juniors Leanne Felsing and Jamie Gabrielsen and sophomore libero Becky Peters.

The Coach
The Panthers are coached by Kathy Litzau, who earned her seventh Horizon League Coach of the Year honor this season.

Sting Connections
There are numerous ties between the Cyclones and the Panthers. Eight Panthers played for the Milwaukee Sting club team, the same club that Iowa State assistant coach Joe Lynch coached for prior to joining the Iowa State staff. Ashley Mass, who recently signed a letter of intent to play for Iowa State, also is a member of the Sting.

All-Time Series
Series tied 1-1. Iowa State defeated the Panthers, 3-0 (15-11, 16-14, 15-9), on Oct. 4, 1992. UWM took the last meeting in the series, a 3-0 contest, on Sept. 12, 1998. The Cyclones are 13-5-1 against opponents from the Horizon League.

The Last Match
The Panthers last played on Nov. 19 against Illinois-Chicago, posting a 3-0 sweep in the Horizon League championship match in Dayton, Ohio. Monica Ferguson paced UWM with 17 kills while Melissa David chipped in 13. Becky Peters had a match-high 16 digs in the win.

Panther Tournament History
UWM is 0-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Its losses have come at Texas (1998), Wisconsin (2001) and Northern Iowa (2002), and on neutral courts to Illinois (1999) and Michigan State (2000). The Panthers were an at-large qualifier to the tournament in both 1999 and 2000. A current member of the Horizon League has never won an NCAA Volleyball Tournament match.

Against Tournament Qualifiers
UWM went 1-3 this season against NCAA Championship qualifiers. The Panthers dropped matches to Winthrop, Wisconsin and Louisville but swept Alabama at the Bama Bash in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

ABOUT WISCONSIN (24-6)

Scouting the Badgers
Wisconsin is 9-1 in its last 10 matches, with the lone loss coming to Minnesota on Nov. 15. The host Badgers earned the No. 10 national seed.

On Monday, three Badgers earned All-Big Ten honors. Freshman outside hitter Brittney Dolgner joined junior's Taylor Reineke and Jackie Simpson on the first team.

Reineke is one of the nation's top blockers, averaging 1.62 per game. Dolgner has had an outstanding freshman campaign, posting 426 kills (4.14 per game) and 259 digs (2.51 per game). Simpson helped Wisconsin to a .261 hitting percentage, dishing out 12.86 assists.

The Coach
Wisconsin is coached by Pete Waite, who was named Big Ten Coach of the Year this season. Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson was an assistant at UW for eight years, including six under Waite, prior to taking the job at Iowa State.

All-Time Series
The Badgers lead the all-time series 2-1, with ISU's lone win coming in 1984. The other two meetings were Badger sweeps in 1990 and 1993

Connections Part II
Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard came to ISU after serving three years as deputy athletics director at Wisconsin.

ABOUT NOTRE DAME (18-13)

Scouting the Irish
Notre Dame, runner up of the Big East Tournament, have won three of its last five. The Fighting Irish are making their 15th consecutive NCAA Volleyball Championship appearance.

The Irish, who finished tied for third in the Big East during the regular season, are led by their lone senior, libero Danielle Herndon. Herndon has racked up 565 digs this season, good for a 5.09 average. Junior Adrianna Stasiuk and freshman Christina Kaelin are the top attackers for Notre Dame, averaging 3.08 and 3.56 kills, respectively. Middle blocker Justine Stremick is the most efficient attacker at .308.

The Irish led the Big East with 17.73 digs as a team. They ranked second in assists (14.73) and kills (15.92).

The Coach
Notre Dame is coached by Debbie Brown (Arizona State, ?82), who is in her 16th season at the helm of the Irish program.

All-Time Series
Iowa State and Notre Dame have only met once, with that match coming in the 1995 NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones fell to the Irish, 0-3 (3-15, 14-16, 10-15), in South Bend, Ind.

Did You Know?
- Erin Boeve became the first Iowa State player to earn a Big 12 individual honor when she was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year.
- Boeve is the only player in school history to be named All-Big 12, and she has already earned the honor twice in her career.
- Nicole Lorenzen is just eight kills shy of moving into the top-10 all-time at ISU. She currently has 987 in her career.
- Lorenzen will most likely move into fifth all-time for total attacks when the Cyclones face the Panthers. Lorenzen (3,084) is just 13 attacks behind former teammate Brittany Dalager (3,097).
- Katie Churm became just the third player in school history to record 400+ digs in back-to-back seasons.
- Kaylee Manns' 78 assist performance against Texas Tech is tied for the highest in the Big 12 this season. Texas' Michelle Moriarty had 78 assists against Penn State earlier this season.
- Jessica Klein ranks 10th all-time at ISU with 229 block assists in her career.
- Manns, a freshman, already ranks eighth all-time at ISU with 1,359 career assists. She also owns the single-season record for assists.
- Katie Jessen has recorded a double-double in 11 of the last 13 matches.
- Nicole Lorenzen, Erin Boeve, Jessica Klein and Katie Churm have started every match for the Cyclones this season. Katie Jessen missed just one start all year (Iowa).
- The Cyclones swept five Big 12 opponents this season.
- Iowa State went 8-4 on the road this year, the most road wins since 1994 when it won nine road matches.
- Iowa State went 2-2 at neutral sites this season, beating Drake and Chicago State but losing to Michigan and San Diego.
- Iowa State is 4-9 against tournament teams this season, UWM went 1-3 against qualifiers.
- Lauren Cummings hit .449 in non-conference matches this season.
- Iowa State is 14-4 when Katie Churm leads the team in digs.
- The Cyclones were 12-2 this season when hitting between .201-.300.
- ISU out dug 24 opponents, going 21-3 in those matches. In matches where the opponent had as many or more digs as the Cyclones, they went 0-6.

Big 12 in the NCAA Championships...
Thursday, Nov. 30
New Mexico State at Colorado 8 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 1
Iowa State vs. UW-Milwaukee 5 p.m.
Missouri vs. Santa Clara 6:30 p.m.
Prairie View at Texas 6:30 p.m.
American at Nebraska 7 p.m.
Oklahoma vs. Oral Roberts 7 p.m.

Players Mentioned

Erin Boeve

Erin Boeve

Katie Churm

Katie Churm

Lauren Cummings

Katie Jessen

Katie Jessen

Jessica Klein

Jessica Klein

Nicole Lorenzen

Nicole Lorenzen

Kaylee Manns

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