Henson Powers Cyclones Past Oklahoma, 3-1

Wednesday, October 7

Norman, Okla.

7:00 PM

Iowa State

Oklahoma

Henson Powers Cyclones Past Oklahoma, 3-1

10.07.2009 | Volleyball

By: cyclones.com

NORMAN, Okla. ? Victoria Henson thrashed Oklahoma for 24 kills, 14 digs and six total blocks as 14th-ranked Iowa State defeated the Sooners, 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-10, 25-21), Wednesday night at McCasland Field House. The win is Iowa State's fourth-straight and first in Norman since 2005.

Henson wasn't the only player to post big numbers for the Cyclones in the win. Kaylee Manns finished with 46 assists and tied a career-high with 23 digs as ISU improved to 13-3 overall and 5-2 in Big 12 play.

“Victoria had a special night, she really took over the match and that was nice to see,” ISU head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. “She has the ability to take any match over and she did exactly that tonight. It was fun to watch her.”

Three other Cyclones joined Henson and Manns with double-figure digs. Ashley Mass had 17 digs and Caitlin Mahoney added 11. Rachel Hockaday notched her second double-double in as many matches with 10 kills and 14 digs. It was the second match in a row that ISU had five players post double-digit digs.

ISU owned the net, out blocking the Sooners (11-5, 4-3), 17-6, in the match. Henson and Debbie Stadick had career-highs with three and two solo blocks, respectively. Freshman Jamie Straube, who was making her first start since the Iowa match on Sept. 11, tallied a career-best eight block assists.

“We have really been focusing on our blocking and it is great to see it work for us in such a dramatic fashion,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We have really been playing well at the net in the last few matches.”

Iowa State took the first set 25-23 despite an unimpressive offensive effort. The Cyclones hit just .019 in the frame, but held OU to a -.020 hitting efficiency. ISU out blocked the Sooners, five to four, in the opening stanza.

In that opening frame, ISU led until the Sooners finally grabbed their first lead at 20-19. After Oklahoma pushed the lead to two at 21-19, ISU scored the next three points, two of which came on a solo block and kill from Henson, to go up 22-21. The score was tied at 23-23 before a service error by OU's Caitlin Higgins and a block by the ISU duo of Henson and Straube gave the set to the Cyclones.

Oklahoma ran out to a 17-12 lead in the second frame and held off a valiant Cyclone comeback attempt to even the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 win. The Cyclones tied the set at 20-20, following a block from Straube and Manns, but were never able to gain a lead in the frame.

The third set was all Iowa State as the Cyclones hit .538 to take the 25-10 win. Henson was dynamite with six more kills to run her total for the match to 16 and ISU had a 90% sideout percentage in the frame.

The 10 points scored by OU in the set was the lowest by a conference opponent in the 25-point era.

In the fourth set, ISU resembled the team in the third set rather than the one in the first and second frames. The Cyclones trailed just once and jumped out to a 10-3 lead en route to a 25-21 win.

OU was led by Francie Ekwerekwu and Sarah Freudenrich, who finished with 11 and 10 kills each.

Iowa State will continue its road swing Saturday with a match at Kansas. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.