No. 12 Cyclones Hang On To Defeat Northern Iowa, 3-1

Wednesday, September 2

Cedar Falls, Iowa

7:00 PM

Iowa State

Northern Iowa

No. 12 Cyclones Hang On To Defeat Northern Iowa, 3-1

09.02.2009 | Volleyball

By: cyclones.com

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa ? No. 12 Iowa State had 16 blocks and used an 18 kill-14 dig performance from Rachel Hockaday to defeat intrastate rival Northern Iowa, 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 16-25, 25-23), Wednesday night at the McLeod Center in front of a UNI school-record 6,126 fans.

“It was a great environment and I'm happy we had the chance to play in front of a crowd like that,” ISU head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. “UNI put a lot of pressure on us blocking wise and we weren't very efficient hitting but our blocking pulled us through tonight.”

Joining Hockaday in double-figures was freshman Jamie Straube, who posted a career-best 13 kills in the win. Kaylee Manns posted a double-double with 42 assists and 18 digs. Kelsey Petersen added eight kills and Debbie Stadick had seven. Carly Jenson notched six kills, including five in the decisive fourth set.

Defensively, ISU (3-0) relied on the huge blocks of Straube, Stadick and Petersen to slow a scrappy Panther team. Straube finished with two solo stuffs and three block assists while Stadick added six block assists. Petersen finished with a solo block and four block assists, and Manns and Hockaday had two solo blocks each.

The Cyclones blocked their way to a 25-23 first set win, notching seven team blocks to none for the Panthers. ISU took its first lead of the set at 11-10 on a solo block by Straube. ISU extended its lead to 15-11 on a kill from Hockaday and held the lead until UNI tied it at 21-21. Petersen broke up the tie with a kill and ISU went on to pick up the win.

In the second frame, ISU jumped out to an 11-1 lead, but the resilient Panthers scrapped back, drawing to within one at 24-23 before Petersen drilled her fifth kill of the match to send ISU into the break up 2-0. Both teams were sluggish offensively in the set with ISU out hitting the Panthers, .089 to .051.

Iowa State fell behind early in the third set and ended up losing 25-16 to force a fourth set. The Panthers hit .343 and limited the Cyclones to a .051 hitting percentage to win the set.

In the deciding set, ISU withstood a late Panther push to get the 25-23 win. The Cyclones led 16-12 following a kill from Stadick but UNI rallied to take the lead at 18-17. Two kills from Straube and one from Jenson forced a Northern Iowa timeout at 20-18. After a block by Manns and Stadick made it 24-20, UNI made one last push cutting the deficit to 24-23. Jenson stepped up on the next point, slamming home a kill for match point.

Cassie Pratt had two service service aces in the fourth set, which were the only aces for the Cyclones in the match.

UNI was led by setter Bre Payton's triple-double of 11 kills, 29 assists and 10 digs. Ellie Blankenship notched a match-high 32 digs.

Iowa State returns to action Friday at the Diet Coke Classic in Minneapolis, Minn. The Cyclones will face George Washington at 5:30 p.m.