ISU Goes the Distance To Upend Baylor In Five

AMES, Iowa- Lauren Cummings had a career-high 22 kills and Victoria Henson added a career-best 18 as the Iowa State volleyball team outlasted Baylor, 3-2 (30-20, 31-33, 30-27, 25-30, 16-14), Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum.

Cummings recorded a career-high for the second-straight match to lead the Cyclones (15-10, 9-6 Big 12), who have now won four straight over the Bears (14-12, 6-9). Joining Cummings and Henson in double-figures were Jen Malcom, whose 15 kills tied a career-high, and Erin Boeve. Boeve had 12 kills to go along with 12 digs and eight total blocks.

Ashley Mass led the Iowa State defense with 29 digs while Kaylee Manns had 19 in the match. The 29 digs for Mass pushes her past Manns for the freshman record at Iowa State. The Muskego, Wis., native now has 381 on the season, surpassing Manns, who had 353 in her freshman campaign last season.

Iowa State, which equaled a season-high with 102 digs, had six players reach double-figures. Cummings, Amy Vos and Laura Cady rounded out the players in double-digits with 12, 13 and 11, respectively. Manns also had 70 assists as she led the Cyclone attack to a .222 hitting percentage on the evening.

Baylor got 20 kills and 17 digs from Katie Sanders and 22 digs from Sarah Grace in the loss.

“It was a must win for us,” said Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson. “We have been at that part where it has been a grind. We are trying to have fun instead of worrying about that pressure that can weigh you down. Hopefully now we can just relax a bit and have some fun.”

The Cyclones didn't look like a team feeling the pressure in game one as they cruised to a 30-20 win behind a .438 hitting percentage. ISU trailed 15-14 but scored eight straight points behind the serve of Mass to gain control of the game.

Baylor fought off a fierce rally by Iowa State late in game two to pick up the 33-31 win and even the match at 1-1 heading into intermission. The Bears led 28-25 following an attack error by Cummings but the Cyclones bounced back to score four of the next five and tie it at 29-29. Iowa State held game point twice but the Bears were able to fight it off and eventually took the game on a kill by Anna Breyfogle, who had 17 kills in the match.

The Cyclones regained control of the match with a 30-27 win in game three. The score was tied at 27-27 but Iowa State scored the final three points to capture the game.

Game four was all Baylor as it trailed only at 1-0 before cruising to the 30-25 win and forcing a fifth game.

The Cyclones jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the deciding game before Baylor began to rally back. ISU held a 8-4 lead when the teams switched sides and were ahead 12-8 on a kill by Cummings. But the Bears were able to scrap back and tie it at 14-14 before Iowa State took the win on a pair of attack errors by Ashlie Christenson.

Iowa State will host No. 2 Nebraska on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. following the women's basketball game against Pepperdine. Fans attending the basketball game can stay at the volleyball match for free as ISU tries to “Cram the Coliseum” in hopes of breaking the school's attendance record of 4,228 set in 1995 against the Huskers.

ISU Goes the Distance To Upend Baylor In Five

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Players Mentioned

Erin Boeve

Erin Boeve

Laura Cady

Laura Cady

Lauren Cummings

Lauren Cummings

Victoria Henson

Victoria Henson

Jen Malcom

Jen Malcom

Kaylee Manns

Kaylee Manns

Ashley Mass

Amy Vos

Amy Vos

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ISU Goes the Distance To Upend Baylor In Five

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Players Mentioned

Erin Boeve

Erin Boeve

Laura Cady

Laura Cady

Lauren Cummings

Lauren Cummings

Victoria Henson

Victoria Henson

Jen Malcom

Jen Malcom

Kaylee Manns

Kaylee Manns

Ashley Mass

Amy Vos

Amy Vos

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