No. 9 Cyclones Rally To Beat No. 22 Baylor, 3-2

AMES, Iowa ? No. 9 Iowa State erased deficits of 12-7 and 14-12 in the fifth set to rally and defeat No. 22 Baylor, 3-2 (24-26, 25-21, 25-23, 23-25, 16-14), Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum.

"Baylor and us went back and forth. There were a lot of long rallies,” ISU head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. “It was tough to put the ball away. It was a very defensive match tonight. The hitting percentages tonight were pretty low on both sides and I think that is a reflection of the good defense.

"I think it is a big win because of the deficit we had in the fifth set,” Johnson-Lynch added. “We've had long matches at home, we've had big wins at home and we've won against ranked teams at home, but to see that type of deficit. It was 12-7 in the fifth. We were playing for game-point a couple times."

After Baylor (18-5, 7-5 Big 12) forced a fifth set with a 25-23 win in the fourth, the Bears jumped out to a 12-7 lead in the deciding set. The Bears' Katie Sanders had a hitting error and Taylor Barnes had a bad set to cut the Cyclones' deficit to three at 12-9.

Out of the Baylor timeout, ISU (18-3, 10-2) got a kill from Victoria Henson and a block by Henson and Jamie Straube to close to within one at 12-11. Baylor's Torri Campbell, who had a team-high 18 kills, then broke the run with a kill to put the Bears up by two. Henson and Straube then teamed up for another block to again cut the deficit to one before Ashlie Christenson slammed home a kill to give BU two match points.

Setter Kaylee Manns connected with Henson on the following play as the Cyclones knocked out the first Baylor match point. After Taylor Barnes hit it into the net for Baylor to make it 14-14, Kelsey Petersen put down her 11th kill of the match to give ISU its first match point. Henson then served one deep and Baylor libero Allison King made a late jab at the ball but was unable to keep it in the court giving the Cyclones their school-record ninth-straight win.

In a match that featured 226 total digs, ISU libero Ashley Mass broke a 14-year old school record with 42 digs. Mass' total surpassed that of Steph McCannon, who had 41 digs in a 1995 match against Colorado.

"Both Baylor left-sides struggled a little bit and I think that is because they couldn't get a ball down on (Mass),” Johnson-Lynch said of the junior libero. “They were hitting it sharp and they were hitting it deep. She was just everywhere."

The Cyclones, who had a rally scoring school-record 122 digs as a team got career-highs from Manns and Henson, who finished with 25 and 22, respectively, while Rachel Hockaday and Caitlin Mahoney were also in double-digits with 16 and 11 each.

Offensively, Henson led the way hammering home a season-high 24 kills on a .310 hitting percentage. Hockaday added 15 kills and Petersen and Debbie Stadick were also in double-digits with 11 and 10 each.

Baylor came out strong in the match and took the first set, 26-24, for the second-straight year in Ames. The Cyclones were able to comeback and win the second and third sets before the Bears forced a fifth with a 25-23 win in the fourth.

In the fourth set, ISU had a 22-20 edge after a kill by Henson, but the Bears scored five of the final six in the set to force the Cyclones to play a fifth set for the second time in a week.

Baylor was led by Campbell's 18 kills and 10 from Elizabeth Graham. The Bears had 104 digs, led by a career-high 32 from King.

Manns posted her 61st career double-double, dishing out 58 assists to go along with her 25 digs. Straube had a solo block and five block assists for the Cyclones, who were out blocked for the first time in seven matches (15.5-9).

The Cyclones improved to 2-0 in five-set matches this season, while Baylor fell to 3-2 in five-setters. ISU is now 8-0 at home this season and has won 10-straight at Hilton Coliseum dating back to last season.

"We've said all along that wins at home are really crucial and then we'll try to steal a few on the road,” Johnson-Lynch said. “A win against a great team like Baylor, who I think by the end of the season will be neck-and-neck with us in the conference, is really important."

The Cyclones are on the road this weekend, traveling to Colorado for a Saturday matchup with the Buffaloes. First serve from Boulder is slated for 5 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Victoria Henson

Victoria Henson

Rachel Hockaday

Rachel Hockaday

Caitlin Mahoney

Caitlin Mahoney

Kaylee Manns

Kaylee Manns

Ashley Mass

Ashley Mass

Kelsey Petersen

Kelsey Petersen

Debbie Stadick

Debbie Stadick

Jamie Straube

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