Iowa State Fends Off Colorado, 3-2, In Thriller

Wednesday, October 17

Boulder, Colo.

7:30 PM

Iowa State

Colorado

Iowa State Fends Off Colorado, 3-2, In Thriller

10.17.2007 | Volleyball

By: cyclones.com

BOULDER, Colo. ? Iowa State used 19 kills from Erin Boeve and a career-high 15 from Jen Malcom to send Colorado to its eighth five-game loss of the season, 3-2 (24-30, 30-24, 25-30, 30-19, 15-13).

Iowa State (12-8, 6-4 Big 12) rallied from a 2-1 deficit to snap a three-match losing streak heading into the second half of the Big 12 season. The Cyclones overcame a school-record 26 blocks from Colorado, stuffing back 19 CU attempts.

Lauren Cummings and Victoria Henson joined Boeve and Malcom in double-figures with 16 and 14 kills, respectively. Ashley Mass had 21 digs while Kaylee Manns chipped in 55 assists and 18 digs. Boeve had another solid night at the net with two solo blocks and 11 block assists.

Colorado (5-13, 0-10) was paced by 15 kills from Alex Buth and 13 from Lauren Schaefer.

The Buffaloes came out and controlled the net in the first game, out blocking the Cyclones, 5.5 to 1, en route to a 30-24 win. The Cyclones, who hit just .184 compared to Colorado's .286, never led in the game despite seven kills from Cummings.

Iowa State held CU to a .152 hitting percentage and evened up the match with a 30-24 second game win. The Buffs again out blocked ISU, 7.5 to 6, but the Cyclones were able to hang on for the win as the teams headed into intermission tied at 1-1.

Colorado grabbed a 30-25 game three win to go on top 2-1. The Buffs continued to dominate the Cyclones at the net, blocking back 8.5 more blocks in game three and holding ISU to a -.071 hitting percentage.

The Cyclones used a 9-0 run midway through game four to cruise to the 30-20 win and force a fifth game. ISU led 13-10 but scored nine straight to push its lead to 22-10 and grab the win. The Cyclone attack finally got going in the fourth stanza as ISU hit .343 while holding the Buffs to a .098 hitting percentage.

After CU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in game five, ISU rallied back to score five of the next six points and go up 5-3, forcing a timeout by the Buffs. Colorado came back to tie it at 7-7 before a kill by Malcom made it 8-7 ISU as the teams switched sides. The Cyclones pushed their lead to 11-9 following another Malcom kill and an attack error by Colorado's Kelsey Loop, forcing CU to call its final timeout. The Buffs battled back to tie it at 13-13 but a kill by Boeve and a block assist by her and Cummings wrapped up the win for ISU.

Iowa State will have a bye this weekend before opening the second half of the Big 12 season at home next Wednesday against Texas Tech at 6:30 p.m.