Cyclones Down Kansas, 3-0

Saturday, November 4

Ames, Iowa

6:30 PM

Iowa State

Kansas

11.04.2006 | Volleyball

By: Iowa State University

AMES, Iowa ? Iowa State hit .344 and used 14 kills from Erin Boeve to defeat Kansas, 3-0 (30-18, 30-22, 30-23), and win its school-record fifth straight Big 12 match in front 1,474 spectators at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday night.

With the win, ISU improves to 17-7 overall, 9-5 in Big 12 play. The 17 wins is the most since 1995 and the nine Big 12 wins ties a school-record, which was set last year, with six conference matches remaining.

The win, coupled with Colorado's 3-1 loss at Missouri, also propels the Cyclones into sole possession of fourth place in the Big 12.

“I like how we're playing right now,” said ISU head coach Christy Johnson. “I think that five in a row is a reflection of how well we are playing right now. We've got a lot of confidence and we're in a good rhythm. We are healthy so with all those things we are in good shape.”

Boeve hit .435 en route to a match-high 14 kills. She also added four block assists in the win. Joining Boeve in double-figures was Katie Jessen (13 kills) and Jessica Klein (11 kills). Jessen hit .345 and added 11 digs in the win. Senior libero Katie Churm had a match-high 17 digs while freshman setter Kaylee Manns had another solid match, contributing 45 assists, seven digs and four service aces.

Churm moved into third all-time on the Iowa State dig list. The Irvine, Calif., native, has 1,349 career digs.

The Cyclones out blocked Kansas, eight to three, and continued their defensive prowess by out digging the Jayhawks, 51-47.

“All of the players have made a little more effort defensively,” said Johnson. “We've been trying to work on defense in practice and I think its showing up in the matches. We have a great block, but it's nice to know that once it gets by the block our other players are doing a great job picking up balls.”

Megan Hill led Kansas, which hit just .162, with 11 kills.

The Cyclones hit .263 while limiting KU to just a .103 hitting percentage to take game one 30-18. ISU had four of its seven service aces in the first game, including two by Manns. Nicole Lorenzen had five of her nine kills in the match in helping ISU to a 1-0 lead in the match.

The Cyclones trailed early, 3-0, in the second game but bounced back to take game two. Klein led the Cyclones to a 30-22 second game win, blasting seven kills.

The Cyclones never trailed in the third game, cruising to a 30-23 win and giving Iowa State the season sweep of Kansas.

The Cyclones are now 4-0 all-time against Kansas during Johnson's tenure.

Iowa State will host No. 1 Nebraska (22-0, 14-0 Big 12) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Admission to the match is free to ISU students, faculty and staff who present their ISU card.

Scores from the Big 12

Texas A&M 3, Kansas State 0

Missouri 3, Colorado 1

Nebraska 3, Oklahoma 0

Texas 3, Baylor 1