Blocking Boosts Cyclones Over Bears

STATS

WACO, Texas - The No. 13 Cyclones (22-4, 13-2 Big 12) collected a season-high 15 blocks as they came from behind in the match and in the final set to beat Baylor (18-13, 5-10) in five sets Saturday, 22-25, 25-12, 25-15, 24-26, 15-12. Four Cyclones grabbed at least five blocks in the match. It is the first time since at Nebraska in 2009 that Iowa State has recorded 15 blocks in a match.

Carly Jenson set a career-best with six block assists while middle blockers Jamie Straube and Tenisha Matlock tied season and career-highs with six and eight block assists, respectively, and Straube added the lone solo block of the day for Iowa State. Senior Kelsey Petersen rounded out the defensive stand with five block assists.

Jenson and Petersen combined for 32 kills against BU, Jenson leading the way with 17 kills and Petersen adding 15, one shy of her career-best. Petersen had no errors in the match and finished with a match-high hitting percentage of .556.

Things looked grim in the deciding set as the Bears went up 8-2 but Jenson got the Cyclones going with a kill to start a 7-1 Cyclones run that tied the set 9-9 after back-to-back blocks by Matlock and Jenson and Matlock and Petersen. Jenson had two more kills in the set and combined with Matlock for another block before Straube finished off the match with the winning kill.

In set one, Baylor allowed the Cyclones just one early lead before taking control. Although Iowa State stayed close, the Bears made no offensive errors in the set and the visitors suffered from eight attack errors and .196 hitting to fall behind, 0-1.

Iowa State rallied in game two, jumping out to a 7-0 lead and never looking back on its way to tying the match. Straube and Jenson combined for the Cyclones' three blocks in the set to lead the defensive charge.

It was Iowa State with the early lead in game three, up 9-2, but the Bears went on a 6-0 run before freshman Victoria Hurtt slammed home a kill to stop the streak. The teams knotted up at 15 but Petersen continued her hot streak, leading Iowa State on a 10-0 run to end the set for the 2-1 match lead.

Baylor took charge late in game four to force a fifth and final set. After trailing 19-13, the Bears rallied to tie the score at 20 and although Iowa State tied the score at 24, it was the Bears who hung on for the 26-24 win. Middle blocker Torri Campbell collected seven kills in the set for Baylor.

Campbell led the Bears in the match with 14 kill and libero Allison King totaled a team-high 19 digs.

Iowa State is off on Wednesday before celebrating senior day next Saturday, Nov. 26, against Texas A&M at 6:30 p.m. CDT at Hilton Coliseum.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Victoria Hurtt

Carly Jenson

Carly Jenson

Tenisha Matlock

Tenisha Matlock

Kelsey Petersen

Kelsey Petersen

Jamie Straube

Jamie Straube

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics