ISU Drops Heartbreaker to No. 15 Kansas State, 3-1

Saturday, October 27

Manhattan, Kan.

7:00 PM

Iowa State

Kansas State

ISU Drops Heartbreaker to No. 15 Kansas State, 3-1

10.27.2007 | Volleyball

By: cyclones.com

MANHATTAN, Kan. ? Erin Boeve had 17 kills and tied a school-record with 12 block assists but Iowa State dropped a 3-1 (24-30, 26-30, 30-20, 33-35) heartbreaker to No. 15 Kansas State on Saturday evening at Ahearn Field House.

Iowa State (13-9, 7-5 Big 12) looked sluggish out of the gate in the first game and then dropped a hard-fought second game to put itself in a 0-2 deficit heading into the break. The Cyclones then battled back, taking the third game before falling in the fourth game, 35-33.

Joining Boeve in double-figures was Victoria Henson, who knocked down 15 kills, and Lauren Cummings and Jen Malcom, who added 14 and 10, respectively. Topeka, Kan., native Kaylee Manns had 47 assists and 15 digs in the match. Defensively, Ashley Mass and Amy Vos finished with 15 digs each while Laura Cady had 14 in the loss. Cummings also had a solo block and nine block assists in the match.

Iowa State out blocked Kansas State (17-6, 9-4 Big 12), 18 to 14, and held the Wildcats to a .201 hitting percentage in the match.

The Wildcats got 15 kills each from Megan Farr and Natalya Korobkova while Angie Lastra chipped in a match-high 23 digs.

Kansas State jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the first game and Iowa State was unable to get back into the game despite cutting the lead to five at 23-18 on a kill by Henson. The Cyclones were out hit .318 to .182 in the game and were led by five kills from Malcom.

The Cyclones out blocked the Wildcats, seven to three, but were unable to even up the match, falling 30-26 as the teams headed into the intermission with Kansas State up 2-0. The Cyclones had trailed 12-9 but a kill by Boeve and five straight Cyclone blocks vaulted ISU into the lead 15-12. It was short lived though as Kansas State took the lead back at 21-20 and held off the Cyclones the rest of the way.

The Cyclones took a 30-20 decision in the third game to force a fourth frame. Iowa State took a 10-3 lead and never looked back, hitting .268 while limiting Kansas State's offense to hit just .056 in the game.

An epic fourth game went the way of Kansas State, 35-33. The Cyclones and Wildcats battled back-and-forth with the lead changing hands 12 times in the game. Iowa State had game points at 29-28 and 30-29 but the Wildcats were able to fight both points off. The Wildcats then took a 31-30 edge but back-to-back kills by Malcom and Boeve gave the edge back to the Cyclones. K-State scrapped back and took a lead at 33-32 but Manns found Boeve again to tie it up at 33-33. The Wildcats would get the next to points to send the Cyclones home with the loss.

Iowa State will return to the court Wednesday as it faces Colorado at 6:30 p.m., at Hilton Coliseum.