No. 11 Iowa State Falls To No. 4 Nebraska, 3-1

Wednesday, September 15

Ames, Iowa

7:00 PM

Iowa State

Nebraska

No. 11 Iowa State Falls To No. 4 Nebraska, 3-1

09.15.2010 | Volleyball

By: cyclones.com

STATS | POST-MATCH INTERVIEW | HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTOS

AMES, Iowa – The No. 11 Iowa State Cyclones had five set points to force the No. 4 Nebraska Cornhuskers into a decisive fifth set but were unable to convert opportunities then and throughout the match, falling, 3-1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-23, 28-26), Wednesday night in front of a sold out Ames High School Gymnasium. The loss drops Iowa State to 7-2 overall and 0-1 in Big 12 play.

“It is just little things here and there,” Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. “It's a serve, it is making a correct hit and sometimes it is remembering to block the right person. It was very close, Nebraska didn't make every play either. We had opportunities here and there and we didn't convert them. Overall, it was a great match though.”

Iowa State and Nebraska (9-1, 1-0 Big 12) played a very even keel fourth set, with Iowa State eventually building up to a 24-20 lead. Nebraska fought back with three kills by Lindsey Licht to help pull the score even at 24-24 before a Victoria Henson kill gave Iowa State another shot at locking up the set, but ISU was denied by a Tara Mueller kill. Nebraska rallied enough aid to its cause before Mueller locked up the match with a service ace.

“She (Licht) is a great player,” Johnson-Lynch stated. “As a 6'5” lefty she is tough to prepare for, she is their go-to player and she came through when she needed to.”

Carly Jenson was an all-around force for the Cyclones on the evening. The junior collected career highs of 17 kills and 17 digs.

"I thought she struggled a little early on but she did a really nice job coming back into the match,” Johnson-Lynch said. “She faced some big blockers on the other side and she found a way to hit it over the blockers and become more effective. This was a big match, a position she hadn't been in often, but she did a great job.”

Henson was the only other Cyclone to record double-digit kills with her match-high 19-kill effort. The Iowa State attack was hampered by the big blocking of Nebraska, with the Huskers recording 17 team blocks.

“They are huge and a big, physical team,” Johnson-Lynch noted. “There isn't an area where you can say they have terrible blocking, let's attack there. They do a good job with commit blocking at certain times.”

The Iowa State defense made its mark in the dig category, outdigging NU 73-48. Along with Jenson's 17 digs four other Cyclones recorded double-figure digs with Ashley Mass leading the charge with 18, Alison Landwehr with 12 and Henson and Caitlin Mahoney getting 11 each.

“I thought at times we played really nice defense, which allowed us to make some really nice runs,” Johnson-Lynch said. “That is the way we play.”

The early part of the first set belonged to the Cyclones, with Iowa State pulling off a 4-0 run to start the match, forcing Nebraska into an early timeout. After a three-point Husker run, the Cyclones knocked off a 5-0 run to increase the lead to 9-3. Nebraska responded with another 4-0 run after that to give the Cyclones a slimmer 9-7 advantage. Nebraska went on a mid-set 4-0 run to take a 15-13 lead. The teams exchanged the lead throughout the rest of the set before Nebraska tore off a 4-0 run to finish the set 25-22. The Husker attack was led by Hannah Werth's four kills and two solo blocks. Kayla Banwarth picked up six digs for the Nebraska defense. The Cyclones were paced by Henson's five kills. Jenson contributed five digs and Ashley mass added four.

It was more of the same back-and-forth action in the second set, with the set featuring 17 ties and 11 lead changes. This time Nebraska got off to the early set run to take a 5-2 lead and force Iowa State into an early timeout. The Cyclones wasted little time making their comeback, tying it up at 7-7 before a Henson kill gave Iowa State the lead for the first time in the set. The set didn't see a run of longer than 3-0 until Nebraska ran off three in a row to get a 24-22 lead and a set point. Iowa State quickly turned around that momentum courtosey of a Jamie Straube kill and a Brooke Delano error. A Huskers timeout did nothing to stop the Cyclone momentum as Henson put in her 11th kill of the match and Delano was denied by Henson and Staube to close out the set 26-24. Jenson and Henson paced the Iowa State offense in the set with seven and six kills, respectively. Nebraska was led by three second set kills from Tara Mueller and Licht.

Iowa State came out the blocks very fast, with an early 5-1 run that included three team blocks, all involving Staube. The Cyclones continued to control the set, building up an 18-12 lead. The Huskers struck back with a 7-1 run to tie it at 19-19. A Morgan Broekhuis kill gave Nebraska its first lead of the set at 22-21 and they didn't relinquish it, taking the set 25-23. Werth and Licht led the Huskers attack with three kills apiece in the set while Werth also added four digs. Jenson continued to lead the Cyclone attack with five kills and Straube added three of her own. Landwehr and Jenson each added five digs in the set.

The Huskers were led by Licht's 15 kills, two solo block and five block assists. Werth and Mueller added 13 and 10 kills, respectively with Werth addind two solo blocks and Delano collecting seven block assits. Banwarth led Nebraska in digs with 15 and Mueller added 11.

The Cyclones continue their season Saturday when they travel to Columbia for a Big 12 showdown with Missouri. The match is slated to begin at 3 p.m.