ISU Upends No. 13 Kansas State In Five-Set Thriller

Wednesday, October 22

Ames, Iowa

6:30 PM

Iowa State

Kansas State

ISU Upends No. 13 Kansas State In Five-Set Thriller

10.22.2008 | Volleyball

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa ? Iowa State hit .389 over the final two sets to rally and defeat No. 13 Kansas State, 3-2 (20-25, 25-14, 13-25, 25-21, 15-8), Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum. The win marks Iowa State's highest-ever over a ranked opponent in regular season play.

The Cyclones (13-8, 5-5 Big 12) are now 1-4 in five-set matches this season and head coach Christy Johnson was pleased with the response to the second five-set match in as many contests.

“We talked this week about how we lost three tough five-set matches on the road, and we decided this week that everyday we were going to work on five game situations,” Johnson said. “And we worked on how we were going to react, who needs to get the ball, and how our behavior needs to be. I think we really stayed composed in the fifth set and I think the work we did this week in practice reflected in how they played tonight.”

Complete Post-Event Coverage
Final Stats Photo Album	_	Post-Match Notes

Victoria Henson led the way for Iowa State with 16 kills for her seventh-straight match in double-figures. Rachel Hockaday and Jen Malcom also reached double-digits with 15 and 13 kills, respectively. Hockaday recorded a double-double with her career-best 15 digs. Kaylee Manns had 49 assists and set the Cyclones to a five-set rally scoring record .299 hitting percentage.

Defensively, Iowa State outblocked the Wildcats 7-6.5, despite trailing 5.5-2 after three sets. Ashley Mass had a match-high 24 digs for the Cyclones.

After being beaten 25-13 in the third set to fall behind 2-1, the Cyclones stormed back in the fourth and fifth sets to defeat the 13th-ranked Wildcats (17-4, 7-3).

In the fifth, ISU jumped out to a 5-1 lead and maintained an 8-4 margin following freshman Debbie Stadick's ninth kill of the match. Four points was all the closer the Wildcats would get as ISU scored seven of the final 11 points for the 15-8 win.

Both teams came out of the gates sluggish, committing numerous unforced errors as the Wildcats went on for the 25-20 first-set win. Kansas State had six service errors but hit .342 in the set while ISU hit just .108 and had four blocking errors.

The Cyclones evened things up in the second frame with a convincing 25-14 win to head into the break tied at 1-1. ISU blistered the ball at a .419 clip while KSU slipped to .088 in the set.

After the dominant third set win by the Wildcats, ISU regrouped to take the fourth and fifth sets and capture the previously elusive five-set win.

In the fourth set, ISU took its first lead at 10-9 on an attack error by Kansas State's Rita Liliom, who finished with a match-high 20 kills. ISU never looked back in taking the 25-21 win and force the fifth set.

In addition to Liliom, Natalya Korobkova had 16 kills and Kelsey Chipman finished with 10 while hitting .476. Jenny Jantsch just missed a double-double with 16 digs and nine kills.

The Cyclones will be back in action Saturday for a 2 p.m. match against Missouri. Admission to the match is free.