Cyclones? Tourney Run Ends With Loss To Cal

Friday, December 7

Madison, Wis.

5:00 PM

Iowa State

California

Cyclones? Tourney Run Ends With Loss To Cal

12.07.2007 | Volleyball

By: cyclones.com

MADISON, Wis. ? Angie Pressey and Hana Cutura each had 16 kills as No. 6 California beat No. 18 Iowa State, 3-0 (30-27, 30-27, 30-24) to end the Cyclones' magical run through the NCAA Tournament Friday evening at the UW Fieldhouse in Madison, Wis.

“It has been a remarkable season and the last two weeks have been really magical,” Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson said. “I don't feel like the scores tonight reflect how hard we fought. We just ran into two outsides (Pressey and Cutura) that were tough but we fought as hard as we could.”

The Cyclones (19-14) hit just .148 and were unable to contain the Bears' attack, which hit .303 in the match. It marks just the third time all season in which an ISU opponent has hit over .300. Victoria Henson paced the Cyclones with 12 kills while seniors Lauren Cummings and Erin Boeve had eight and seven kills, respectively, in their final collegiate match. Ashley Mass had a team-high 11 digs to post her 26th consecutive match with double-figure kills. Junior middle blocker Jen Malcom had four block assists to break Boeve's (158 in 2006) single-season record with 159.

Boeve finishes her career with 1,334 kills and 590 total blocks while Cummings' career ends with 703 kills in two years at ISU. Laura Cady and Meghan Ferrie also saw their careers come to a close with the loss. Cady posted 934 career digs.

Ellen Orchard chipped in nine kills for the Bears (25-7). Cal also out blocked the Cyclones, 12 to 6.5. Kristen Kathan had 15 digs for the Bears, who have won five of their last six matches.

Iowa State was unable to solve Pressey in game one as the senior went for eight kills and led Cal to a 30-27 win. The Bears hit .326 compared to Iowa State's .114. Cal gained its biggest advantage at 22-18 and the Cyclones were unable to even the score despite closing the gap to one after a 3-0 run that made it 22-21 following Mary Bisenius' kill.

The Cyclones fell behind 15-4 in game two and were unable to come back despite out scoring the Bears 23-15 to finish the game. ISU was plagued by three service errors and receiving errors that hindered many potential runs as Cal went on to the 30-27 win.

ISU again trailed early in game three and was unable to overcome the deficit as Cal cruised to the 30-24 win and the 3-0 sweep, advancing to the NCAA Regional Final tomorrow against the winner of Nebraska and Michigan State.