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Iowa State University Athletics
Cyclones At Home Wednesday Against Kansas State
11.14.2011 | Volleyball
AMES, Iowa - Iowa State kicks off the final two weeks of the regular season at home on Wednesday, hosting Kansas State (18-9, 7-6 Big 12) at Hilton Coliseum. The No. 13 Cyclones (20-4, 11-2) swept the Wildcats earlier this season.
Iowa State heads into the match after a bye last Saturday and a come-from-behind road win at Missouri last Wednesday. Libero Kristen Hahn earned league defensive honors for her 28-dig performance against the Tigers and will look for her 12th match of the season with more than 20 digs against K-State.
Sophomore middle blocker Tenisha Matlock enters the match averaging 1.29 blocks in Iowa State's last five matches, including a six-block assist night against Mizzou while right side Kelsey Petersen has hit .455 in that same five-match stretch.
Kansas State will have a different look from the team the Cyclones faced in September as Wildcats starting setter Caitlyn Donahue will be back on the court after missing the first meeting of the season with an injury. Donahue is averaging 11.05 assists per set this season, second only in the Big 12 to Iowa State's Alison Landwehr, and is the only conference player to have more than 65 assists in a match this season, recording 67 at Missouri.
Kaitlynn Pelger is the offensive force for K-State, averaging 4.19 this season and hitting .322 but Pelger managed only nine kills on .056 hitting against Iowa State in the Wildcats' loss in Manhattan. Pelger and three other Wildcats, all averaging more than 1.00 blocks per set, will be tasked with slowing the Cyclones' offensive. Kansas State has out-blocked opponents 2.46-2.29 this season.
Wednesday's match is set for a 6:30 p.m. CDT first serve.
Cyclone Notebook
- Iowa State returns to the court after a bye on Saturday to play Kansas State at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hilton Coliseum.
- Libero Kristen Hahn was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for her 28-dig performance at Mizzou last week.
- Alison Landwehr moved up to eighth all-time in career assists against Missouri. The junior out of St. Louis had 59 assists in the match, totaling 2,237 in her career.
- The Cyclones move to 3-4 this season when losing the first set with their win in Columbia. After dropping the first set to the Tigers, 23-25, Iowa State rallied to take the next three sets for their 20th win of the season.
- Iowa State is 7-0 in four-set matches this season.
- Head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch has notched 20 wins with the Cyclones for five-straight seasons.
- Iowa State is the only team in the Big 12 with a better road record in league play than at home. The Cyclones are 6-1 on the road and 5-1 at home.
- If the squad wins out, it will be the first time since 2006 that Iowa State has had identical home and road records in conference play. The 2006 team was 6-4 home and away, the 2011 Cyclones would be 7-1 in both categories.
- Iowa State had 76 digs against the Tigers last week, the sixth time this year the team has compiled more than 75 digs in a match. The Cyclones also had 76 digs in their five-set win over No. 9 Florida.
- The Cyclones tied their season-high with 13 blocks at Missouri.
- Missouri hit .181 against Iowa State, the 17th time this season the Cyclones have held an opponent to sub-.200 hitting in a match.
- The match also marked the 10th time this season Iowa State has hit over. 300 in a match. The Cyclones hit .402 against Missouri at home before putting up a .323 clip on the road.
- The Tigers did ace Iowa State six times, the most of any Big 12 team this season.
- Carly Jenson collected 18 kills at Mizzou, her fourth-straight match with at least 10 kills.
- Missouri's Lisa Henning had 19 kills in last week's match, the second-most kills by an opponent this season. Texas' Haley Eckerman recorded 21 kills in Ames as Texas defeated the Cyclones in five sets.
- Henning (20) and Eckerman (22) are the only players to put up 20 points on Iowa State this season.
- The Cyclones are tops in the league in opponent hitting percentage (.165), assists (13.64), kills (14.67) and aces (1.38) per set.
- Senior outside hitter Carly Jenson ranks second in both kills per set and points per set against Big 12 teams this season with respective averages of 4.11 and 4.77.
- Tenisha Matlock has posted at least four blocks in each of Iowa State's last eight matches, leaving her second in the Big 12 in blocks per set against conference rivals with an average of 1.31 blocks per set.
- Jamie Straube (.372), Kelsey Petersen (.335) and Matlock (.327) are among the top 10 hitters in the Big 12 during league play.
- Straube is the only Big 12 player this season with four or more aces in two conference matches. The junior leads the conference with 0.42 aces per set this season.
- Caitlin Mahoney is one of two league players to have five aces in a match, reach the feat in the season-opener against Cincinnati. Missouri's Henning is the other player to have five aces in a match, doing so against Central Arkansas.
- Hahn remains the only Big 12 player to post 35 digs in a match this season (at North Dakota State).
Streaks and Trends
- Iowa State opponents have hit over .300 just 15 times in 216 matches under Johnson-Lynch.
- Iowa State went 12-1 in three set matches in 2010. Under Johnson-Lynch, Iowa State is 86-32 in three set matches.
- This year the Cyclones are 11-3 in three-set matches, losing at No. 15, UNI, No. 10 Nebraska and No. 9 Texas.
- In true Johnson-Lynch fashion, Iowa State has out-dug 20 of its opponents this season.
- Behind Johnson-Lynch's leadership, the Cyclones win 89% (118-15) of their matches when earning the first set victory.
- With their Nov. 9 win at Missouri this season, Iowa State has collected 20 wins in five-consecutive seasons under head coach Johnson-Lynch. The Cyclones have had 11 20+ win seasons since 1982.
- Under Johnson-Lynch, the Cyclones have won at least one match over a top 25 opponent in each of her seven seasons and have defeated at least two top 25 teams in each of the last five seasons.
- This season, six players have led the Cyclones in kills during a match. Only three players ever led the team in kills in 2010.
Scouting Kansas State
- Iowa State swept Kansas State on the road earlier this season. Carly Jenson led the Cyclones with 12 kills while Kristen Hahn added 23 digs and Jamie Straube collected three block assists.
- The Wildcats' starting setter Caitlyn Donahue did not play in the match in Manhattan because of injury.
- Straube hit .385 in the little apple, with 10 kills on 26 attempts with no errors.
- Lilla Porubek led the Wildcats with 11 kills against Iowa State in the season's first meeting. Kathleen Ludwig added 10 for the home team.
- Kansas State out-blocked Iowa State 8-5 in Manhattan.
- Donahue had a league-high 67 assists at Missouri in September. Iowa State setter Alison Landwehr is second on the assists list this season having posted 64 at Oklahoma on Nov. 2.
- The Wildcats are 5-4 since losing to Iowa State at home, last losing in four sets at No. 8 Texas on Saturday.
- Last Wednesday KSU beat No. 25 Oklahoma in five sets at home.
- K-State is the league leader with 78 kills in a match this season. The Wildcats had 78 kills in their five-set win at Missouri. Iowa State is second on the list with 73 kills in four sets at Oklahoma.
- The Wildcats also boast the most assists in a league match this season with 74 at Missouri. Again, Iowa State is second, with 69 assists recorded at Oklahoma.
- Kaitlynn Pelger leads K-State with 4.19 kills per set and .322 hitting this season. Pelger was held to nine kills and .056 hitting against the Cyclones in Manhattan.
- Ashley Kelican (1.22), Taylor Johnson (1.12), Alex Muff (1.09) and Pelger (1.02) are the blocking powers for Kansas State. Muff is sixth in league play with an average of 1.19 blocks per set.
- Pelger owns both of Kansas State's conference awards this season, earning back-to-back offensive nods during the weeks of Sept. 19 and Sept. 26.
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