Cyclones Handle Jayhawks, 3-0

STATS

AMES, Iowa - In front of an Ames High School sellout crowd on Saturday, the No. 12 Iowa State volleyball team (15-4, 8-3 Big 12) dismissed the Kansas Jayhawks (13-9, 4-7 Big 12) in three quick sets (25-20, 25-23, 25-20).

"After playing so poorly down there and losing I was happy to see that we made some adjustments and followed the game plan pretty well," head Cyclones coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. "We had some things that we were working on our side that were good. I don't think we are a great team yet, we have a lot of work to do, but this is the best we have played in a couple of weeks so that is encouraging."

The victory over the Jayhawks comes just two weeks after Kansas beat Iowa State in four sets in Lawrence. The loss was Iowa State's first against an unranked opponent since the 2008 season.

"We knew that we would have no trouble finding motivation or getting excited," Johnson-Lynch said. "We were pretty annoyed from the get-go."

The Cyclones hit .290 on the night, led by senior Victoria Henson who had 16 kills and nine digs on the night. Cyclones Carly Jenson and Jamie Straube also collect double-digit kills with 10 and 11, respectively.

However, with only seven blocks in the match and only eight in the loss at Kansas, Johnson-Lynch sees room for improvement from her team on defense.

"Blocking is one of the most difficult skills to execute because there are so many things involved," Johnson-Lynch said. "We are seeing things getting better but I think our right side block needs some work, both Alison and whichever right side is playing. Teams tend to go after Carly but even Vic didn't have her good touches tonight, we will keep working on and keep going with it and hopefully we will see results."

Despite only a five-point gap in the first set, it was all Cyclones as the team came out ready to play. Henson had six kills and the Cyclones hit .231 in the first set while holding Kansas to .081 hitting with eight errors.

Kansas came out strong in set two and the teams shared 20 ties and changed leads 10 times before an ace by Henson finished off the Jayhawks and sent the Cyclones to the locker room up 2-0.

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Players Mentioned

Victoria Henson

Victoria Henson

Carly Jenson

Carly Jenson

Jamie Straube

Jamie Straube

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