Cyclones Win Two, Improve to 3-0

Saturday, August 27

DeKalb, Ill.

10:00 AM

Iowa State

IUPUI

08.27.2011 | Volleyball

By: cyclones.com

STAT VS IUPUI | STATS VS NIU

DEKALB, Ill. - Carly Jenson and Victoria Hurtt combined for 55 kills on the final day of the Northern Illinois Invitational as the No. 18 Cyclones defeated IUPUI (25-13, 25-13, 25-20) and Northern Illinois (21-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-21) at Victor E. Court on the Northern Illinois campus.

Jenson and Hurtt both set career-highs for kills in a match against the hosting Huskies with 26 and 17, respectively, and Alison Landwehr notched the 13th double-double of her career with 53 assists and 13 digs against NIU.

Sophomore libero Kristen Hahn joined Iowa State's 30-dig club with exactly 30 digs against NIU. Hahn is the ninth player in Iowa State history to have 30 digs in a single match.

Holding true to form since Christy Johnson-Lynch took over as head coach in 2005, the Cyclones out-dug their opponent in all three matches of the tournament, ending the weekend with 200 digs, 43 more than their opponents. In 195 matches under Johnson-Lynch, Iowa State has led in digs in 142 of those matches.

Saturday morning's match, against IUPUI, was a match of firsts for the Cyclones. Hannah Willms and Taylor Goetz made their volleyball debuts and redshirt junior Rachel Hockaday posted her first kill since returning from last season's knee injury.

The three-set victory also marked the first time since 2006 that the Cyclones won a match when no player recorded double-digit kills. Willms and Hurtt led Iowa State with nine kills each and Debbie Stadick added eight kills.

Stadick held firm on defense as well, leading the Cyclones with two blocks, one solo and two assists, in the match, helping Iowa State to a 6-1 blocking edge over the Jaguars. Kelsey Petersen also has a solo block for Iowa State.

Nine Cyclones had at least one dig against the Jaguars, led by Hahn with 18. The Cyclones' ability to get under many of IUPUI's 111 attack attempts led to several long rallies and played a large part in holding the Jaguars to a .072 hitting percentage while the Cyclones hit .318.

For the Jaguars, Moriah Fair got it done on offense with 12 kills, the only IUPUI player with more than 10 kills, and Shari Bernhardt led the squad with 11 digs.

Northern Illinois proved the toughest test of the weekend for Iowa State, taking the first set and staying close throughout the match. The Cyclones held strong though, outhitting the Huskies, .318-.224 while collecting one solo block, from Straube, and eight block assists.

In addition to Hahn's 30 digs and Landwehr's 13, Caitlin Mahoney recorded 10 digs of her own and she, along with Hahn and Straube, threw in one ace. Mahoney finished the weekend with 10 aces.

Lauren Wicinski and Allison McGlaughlin led the charge for the Huskies, each collecting a double-double. Wicinski led the team with 15 kills and added 13 digs. McGlaughlin led in digs with 14 and had 10 kills.

Next weekend the Cyclones will host the Iowa State Challenge, featuring teams from Southern Miss, Arizona State and Iowa. Iowa State will face Southern Miss in the home opener next Friday, Sept. 2, at noon followed by a contest with Arizona State at 6:30 p.m. CDT.