Cyclones Fall to Texas A&M, 3-1

COLLEGE STATION, Texas ? Lauren Cummings had a career-high 20 kills but Iowa State was unable to stop a tough Texas A&M attack as the Cyclones fell, 3-1 (18-30, 30-28, 34-36, 27-30), to the Aggies on Saturday afternoon at G. Rollie White Coliseum.

Cummings hit .357 while hammering her career-high while Erin Boeve and Jen Malcom chipped in 12 kills each. Ashley Mass had 25 digs and Boeve earned a double-double with 10 for Iowa State in the loss. It marks the 17^th straight match that Mass has reached double-figures.

The Cyclones struggled to find an answer for Texas A&M sophomore Sarah Ammerman, who had 23 kills and 12 digs for the Aggies. Kelly Stanton added 16 kills and Mary Batis had a double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs.

As a team, Texas A&M hit .247 compared to just a .168 percentage for Iowa State. The Aggies also out dug the Cyclones, 76-74 in the match.

Game one was all Texas A&M as the Aggies hit .366 en route to the 30-18 win. The Cyclones were unable to contain Ammerman, who had seven first game kills. Iowa State hit just .200 and was out dug 17-16 in the game.

The Cyclones bounced back to tie it at 1-1 heading into the intermission by holding on to take game two 30-28. Cummings had seven kills and hit .538 in the game to lead ISU. The Cyclones trailed 12-10 but back-to-back points tied it up and took the lead for good at 14-13 on a Malcom kill. ISU pushed its lead to 25-19 but the Aggies fought back to tie it at 27-27 before a pair of Boeve kills sandwiched around an Aggie point gave ISU the win.

Game three went to the Aggies, 36-34, despite the Cyclones holding leads at 26-23 and 28-26. Texas A&M tied it up at 28 all and Iowa State fought off five game points but came up short as an Ammerman ace painted the line to give the Aggies a 2-1 edge in the match.

Texas A&M took the fourth game 30-27 to wrap up the 3-1 win. The teams were even 15-15 when the Aggies began to pull away, going up 22-19 and eventually pushing the lead to five at 27-22. The Cyclones cut the lead to 29-27 on a block assist but Texas A&M stuffed back a Cummings shot on the next point to hand the Cyclones the loss.

Iowa State returns home for a pair of matches next week. The Cyclones will host Baylor (14-11, 6-8 Big 12) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., before playing host to No. 2 Nebraska (20-1, 12-1) on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Players Mentioned

Erin Boeve

Erin Boeve

Lauren Cummings

Lauren Cummings

Jen Malcom

Jen Malcom

Ashley Mass

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics