Cyclones Fall To No. 15 Middle Tennessee

Friday, September 5

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

7:30 PM

Iowa State

Middle Tennessee

Cyclones Fall To No. 15 Middle Tennessee

09.05.2008 | Volleyball

By: cyclones.com

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. ? 15th-ranked Middle Tennessee out hit Iowa State, .226 to .126, to defeat the Cyclones, 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-22), Friday night at the Blue Raider Bash.

Iowa State (3-2) got 15 kills and five block assists from Jen Malcom. Malcom hit .440 on the night but was the only Cyclone to reach double-digits in the match. Kaylee Manns finished with 31 assists and eight digs. Ashley Mass had 13 digs and Mary Bisenius chipped in 10 in the losing effort.

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Middle Tennessee (5-0) used a balanced attack in the win led by 12 kills from Izabela Kozon. Ashley Mead had nine kills and Ashley Asberry added eight. Ashley Waugh had a match-high 20 digs for the Blue Raiders, who became the first team this season to out dig the Cyclones (51-50).

The Cyclones were plagued by errors in the first set, committing nine attack errors with a pair of service errors and receiving errors to fall 25-21. ISU led at 7-4 following a kill from Victoria Henson, but Middle Tennessee rattled off seven of the next nine points to go ahead 11-9 and force an ISU timeout. The set was tied at 17-17 but the Blue Raiders scored the next four points. ISU got back into it with three straight points but Middle Tennessee was able to hold off the Cyclones.

In the second set, ISU fell trailed early and was forced to play from behind the entire set. The Cyclones trailed by as much as seven twice, including at 21-14. The Cyclones fought back to close the gap to two at 22-20 on a kill from Malcom but it was to late as Middle Tennessee held on for the 25-22 win.

The Cyclones controlled the early stages of set three with Middle Tennessee taking its first lead at 16-15. The score stayed at a one point margin until the Blue Raiders scored four straight to go on top 24-21. ISU scored the next point but Middle Tennessee ended the match on the next point.

Iowa State wraps up tournament action Saturday with matches against Appalachian State at noon and Florida International at 5 p.m.