Cyclones Down Bears, 3-0

STATS | INTERVIEW | HIGHLIGHTS

AMES, Iowa - The No. 12 Cyclones (17-5, 19-4 Big 12) hit .218 and held the Baylor Bears (12-12, 5-8) to .096 hitting on their way to a three-set win (25-22, 25-22, 25-14) on Wednesday night. The match was the last to be held at Ames High School as the Cyclones prepare to play at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday.

"I thought we did a really good job defensively," head Cyclones coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. "We knew they liked to set a lot of middle attack and last time that beat us; we had a lot of problems slowing down their middles. I thought we did a really good job blocking the right way and putting our defense in the right spots. I was impressed with how we stayed focused on the game plan and execute it throughout the match."

Coming off the bench for the first time this season, outside hitter Victoria Henson still led the team with 11 kills on the night.

Libero Ashley Mass, who was honored before the match for breaking the Big 12 record for digs, led the Cyclone defense with 19 digs on the night while Caitlyn Mahoney added 14 digs.

The offense was very much alive for both teams in game one of the match. The Cyclones hit .275 in the opening set while Baylor put up a .263 percentage. Neither team played as strongly on defense with a combined three blocks.

However, set two was the tale of the defenses as Iowa State leapt from one block in set one to five in set two. The Bears grabbed 21 digs in the second game while holding Iowa State to .179 hitting.

"Baylor digs a lot of balls," Johnson-Lynch said. "They are number one in the conference in digs. We might see more rallies and a little slower play there. We have a little trouble getting going just energy wise, we picked it up there at the end. We could have had a little more energy early on."

Iowa State's next match is Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. against the Missouri Tigers at Hilton Coliseum.

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Players Mentioned

Victoria Henson

Victoria Henson

Ashley Mass

Ashley Mass

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