Cyclones Defeat Valparaiso, 3-0

AMES, Iowa - Katie Jessen had a team-high 13 kills and Jessica Klein hit a career-high .529 with 12 kills to lead Iowa State to a 3-0 (30-17, 30-26, 30-23) sweep of Valparaiso in the first game of the Cyclone Classic at Hilton Coliseum.

With the win, Iowa State improves to 7-2 on the season while Valparaiso drops to 4-4.

The Cyclones dominated every category, out hitting Valpo .300 to .047 and out blocking the Crusaders 10 to eight.

Iowa State set the tone for the match with a 30-17 first game win. The Cyclones, who jumped out to a 11-2, punished the Crusader defense, hitting .351 in the game. Klein had five first game kills and the Cyclone defense took care of the rest, getting 17 digs and four blocks in the game.

The Crusaders put up a fight in the second game, getting to within one at 23-22 before ISU scored two straight to open up the game. The Cyclones would finish the game on a 7-4 run to go ahead 2-0.

Klein again paced the Cyclones with six more kills.

As Valparaiso looked to get back into the match, ISU turned to its proven senior attacker, Katie Jessen, to lead the way. After the Crusaders tied the game at 23-23, Jessen took a perfect ball from freshman setter Kaylee Manns and pounded the ball into the ground to give the Cyclones a lead they wouldn't let get away. Following an attack error by Valpo, Jessen again lit up the scoreboard to all but put the match away.

The match ended with a setting error and three hitting errors against the visiting Crusaders, giving ISU the 30-23 win.

Jessen had six kills on eight attempts to propel the Cyclones, who hit .290 in the game, to the sweep.

“We are happy to get the win tonight,” said Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson. “Valparaiso is a scrappy team and they sort of run an unorthodox offense which can be tough to defend. I thought that we maybe got a little lackadaisical for a bit there but we came around and finished strong.”

Lauren Cummings continued to be a pleasant surprise for ISU, ripping nine kills and hitting .300 in the match. She also had a season-high four digs in the match.

“It's nice to know that we have other players like Lauren Cummings that can step up for us when we need a lift,” said Johnson. “ She had a rough start and actually hit for a negative percentage in the first game, but came around and finished the match with a great percentage. Klein also did a nice job for us, it can't be (Erin) Boeve and Jessen every night, so its nice to have options.”

Katie Churm led the Cyclones with 14 digs and Nicole Lorenzen had seven kills, to go over 700 on her career. Manns added a double-double, posting 45 assists and 12 digs.

The Cyclone Classic will continue Saturday with Valparaiso facing South Dakota State at 11 a.m. followed by ISU and SDSU at 4 p.m. Admission to Saturday's matches is free.

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Players Mentioned

Katie Churm

Katie Churm

Lauren Cummings

Katie Jessen

Katie Jessen

Jessica Klein

Jessica Klein

Nicole Lorenzen

Nicole Lorenzen

Kaylee Manns

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