No. 8 Cyclones Dispose of Kansas, 3-0

Wednesday, November 18

Ames, Iowa

6:30 PM

Iowa State

Kansas

No. 8 Cyclones Dispose of Kansas, 3-0

11.18.2009 | Volleyball

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa ? Victoria Henson had 13 kills and hit .333 to lead No. 8 Iowa State to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-20) sweep of Kansas Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum.

With the win, ISU is 23-4 overall and 15-3 in conference play. The Cyclones sit just one win shy of tying the school's NCAA record for wins.

Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said the Cyclones' success this season is due in large part to the consistency they've played with this season.

"We're having a really fun, great season,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I think it is a reflection of how our program has improved and taken a step up each year. I don't think we've played a bad match this year. Some years you have ups and downs. Consistency is a hard thing to achieve."

ISU hit .296 while holding the Jayhawks (15-12, 7-10) to just a .161 hitting percentage in the match. The Cyclones have held eight of their last nine opponents to a hitting percentage below .200.

Henson was joined in double figures by Rachel Hockaday, who posted 10 kills for her seventh-straight double-digit match. Hockaday hit .280 in the match and afterwards, Johnson-Lynch praised her for her play as of late.

"Hockaday is hitting like an all-conference outside right now," Johnson-Lynch said of the sophomore.

Iowa State's middle blocking duo of Jamie Straube and Debbie Stadick also posted solid efforts. Straube had nine kills and hit .500 with a solo block and two block assists. Stadick overcame a slow start to finish with eight kills while hitting .389. Stadick also had three block assists for the Cyclones, who held an 8-6 blocking edge in the contest.

In the opening set, Kansas came out firing and the Cyclones were sloppy, recording three hitting errors and a ball handling error from Kaylee Manns to fall behind 10-6. Then ISU went on 14-4 run with 10 of the points coming on kills to go ahead 20-14. Hockaday finished the set with kills on two of the final three points as ISU hit .371 in the frame and won 25-17.

In the second set, ISU turned up the heat defensively with three more blocks to hold the Jayhawks to a .068 and claim the 25-20 win. KU never led but the set was close at 10-9 ISU following a kill from the Jayhawks Paige Mazour. The Cyclones then used an 8-1 run, with five of the points coming on KU hitting errors, to go up 18-10. The Jayhawks closed to within three (23-20) following three-straight kills, but Henson blasted a kill and teamed up with Straube on a block to take the five-point win.

The third set was even until late when ISU used a 4-0 run to gain control of the set. Leading 17-16, ISU got a kill from Henson, followed by two more from Stadick to go up 20-16. KU setter Nicole Tate was in the net on the next point as ISU went up 21-16. Kansas didn't quit, again trimming the lead to three at 23-20, but ISU was too much as Hockaday ripped her 10th kill and teamed up with Straube for the block as the Cyclones won for the 14th time in 15 matches.

Manns had 38 assists, five digs and a block assist in the match. Manns moved up into a tie for ninth at ISU with 305 total blocks in her career. Ashley Mass had a match-high 12 digs and Caitlin Mahoney was in double digits for the ninth time this season with 10 digs.

The Jayhawks were led by Mazour and Allison Mayfield, who finished with 10 kills each.

Iowa State returns to action Saturday when it travels to face Missouri at 5 p.m. following the ISU/MU football game. Admission to the volleyball match is free.