ISU Stuns Wisconsin; Advances To Final 16

Saturday, December 1

Madison, Wis.

7:00 PM

Iowa State

Wisconsin

ISU Stuns Wisconsin; Advances To Final 16

12.01.2007 | Volleyball

By: cyclones.com

MADISON, Wis. ? Iowa State held seventh-seeded and eighth-ranked Wisconsin to a season-low .128 hitting percentage as the Cyclones (19-13) swept the Badgers, 3-0 (30-28, 30-25, 30-24), on their home floor to advance to Iowa State's first-ever NCAA Regional. The win is also the Cyclones highest-ever over a ranked opponent and their third-straight over a top-25 team. Iowa State advances to face 10th-seeded California next Friday at 5 p.m. at the UW Fieldhouse back in Madison.

“I just feel like we have a lot of momentum right now,” said Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson, who was an assistant at Wisconsin for eight years. “We've been playing some great ball as of late and it doesn't seem to matter whether we are down by 10 points or whatever, we just have been able to fight back. This win comes with mixed emotions for me since the people on the other side are such great friends to me. At the same time, I am so happy for our program.”

The Cyclones were paced by Lauren Cummings, who had 14 kills for Iowa State in the win. Erin Boeve chipped in 11 kills and Ashley Mass had a match-high 21 digs in the win. It marks the 11th time this season that Mass has reached the 20-dig plateau. Jen Malcom followed up her record setting performance of 13 block assists against San Diego a night ago with seven against the Badgers.

Iowa State hit .211 in the match and played exceptional defense in holding the Badgers to a season-low .128 hitting percentage. The Badgers entered the match hitting .275.

Caity DuPont led Wisconsin (26-5) with 11 kills.

The Cyclones trailed 19-11 in the first game but again showed their poise as they slowly chipped away at Wisconsin's lead and eventually tied it at 23-23. The Badgers regained the lead 25-23 but back-to-back kills by Mary Bisenius again tied it up for ISU. It was again the Badgers turn for a short run as UW scored two straight before ISU went on a 5-1 run to capture the game 30-28.

The Cyclones out hit the Badgers .217 to .148 while Cummings and Mass led ISU with nine kills and digs, respectively.

The Cyclones controlled game two after taking their first lead at 10-9 on a kill by Victoria Henson and never looked back en route to a 30-25 win and a 2-0 lead heading into the break. ISU got five more kills from Cummings and nine more digs from Mass while holding the potent Badger offense to a .111 hitting percentage.

The Cyclones stormed out to a 20-13 lead in game three and held off the Badgers for the 30-24 win and the sweep.