Cyclones Open Season With Win Over Illinois State

Friday, August 29

Milwaukee, Wis.

11:00 AM

Iowa State

Illinois State

Cyclones Open Season With Win Over Illinois State

08.29.2008 | Volleyball

By: cyclones.com

MILWAUKEE, Wis. ? 18th-ranked Iowa State had four players with double-figure kills and hit .243 as a team to defeat Illinois State, 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-16, 25-21), in the season opener at the Panther Invitational in Milwaukee, Wis.

The Cyclones (1-0) got 17 kills from Victoria Henson and 11 each from Rachel Hockaday and Jen Malcom. Mary Bisenius also reached double-digits with 10 kills after getting zero in the first set.

Henson was dominant from the start, ripping five first-set kills en route to her match-high 17. The sophomore hit .303 and added nine digs and a pair of service aces in the contest.

Ashley Mass paced the defense with 21 digs while Bisenius chipped in a career-high 13. Mass, a sophomore, has posted 10 or more digs in a school-record 27 straight matches. Junior setter Kaylee Manns finished with 49 assists and 11 digs.

“It was a good start to the season,” Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson said. “We need to clean up the ball handling and defense a bit and I think we missed a few blocking opportunities throughout the match. I was pleased to see Henson and Malcom hit the way they did today.”

Iowa State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match, taking the first set 25-21 behind a .256 hitting percentage. The Cyclones never trailed in the set while holding Illinois State to a .146 hitting percentage. Individually, Iowa State was paced by five kills from Henson and seven digs from Mass.

Illinois State evened it up at one set each with a come-from-behind 25-23 win in the second set. The Cyclones led 22-20 but the Redbirds battled back, scoring four of the next five points to take the set. Mallory Leggett led the attack for Illinois State, ripping five kills in the set. Hockaday and Malcom had four each for the Cyclones.

Iowa State used its defense to bounce back in the third set and earn a 25-16 win to take the 2-1 advantage in the match. The Cyclones held the Redbirds to a .000 hitting percentage after allowing Illinois State to hit .429 the set before. Iowa State rattled off six straight points to go ahead 14-9 and extended its lead to 22-13 on a kill from Henson, who had four in the set.

Iowa State held off a late Illinois State rally in set four to take a 25-21 win and capture the match 3-1. The Cyclones led 19-14 but the Redbirds scored four straight to cut the lead to 19-18. Iowa State fed Bisenius, who knocked down her 10th kill of the match to create some separation for the Cyclones. Iowa State went on to score five of the final eight points.

Illinois State was led by 13 kills from Mallory Leggett and 11 from M.C. Richmond.

Iowa State out dug the Redbirds, 63-49, and held a nine to eight advantage on the block. The Redbirds hit just .163 in the match.

The Cyclones will continue tournament action against UW-Milwaukee tonight at 7:30 p.m. Live stats will be available at Cyclones.com.