Jenson Powers Cyclones to 5-0 Record

SOUTHERN MISS STATS | ARIZONA STATE STATS

SOUTHERN MISS HIGHLIGHTS | ARIZONA STATE HIGHLIGHTS

AMES, Iowa - Outside hitter Carly Jenson recorded two double-doubles on Friday as the No. 19 Cyclones (5-0, 0-0 Big 12) defeated Southern Miss 3-0 (25-16, 26-24, 25-12) and Arizona State 3-1 (25-16, 25-18, 19-25, 25-17) at the Iowa State Challenge. Jenson collected 11 kills and 13 digs against Southern Miss and 15 kills and 17 digs against Arizona State.

"Carly is very experienced and understands her position," Iowa State head coach Johnson-Lynch said. "She has brought leadership to the team, we have asked a lot of her to play all six rotations and offensively. She is a really great player, she proved that last year and she will hopefully play at a higher level this year."

Sophomore Tenisha Matlock added 10 kills against Southern Miss, hitting .500 in the match (10-2-16) and reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, libero Kristen Hahn, led the team with 18 digs.

In the night match, Victoria Hurtt contributed 15 kills against ASU and Jamie Straube added 10. Hahn posted 22 digs and Caitlin Mahoney joined her in double-figures with 11 digs.

"Victoria is a competitor," Johnson-Lynch noted. "I tell people that it may not always look right because she is still learning. She is so competitive though, she finds a way to get kills, she finds a way to block the ball, she finds a way to dig the ball out of the ground. I just think she is a great player to have on our court because of her competitive fire, it is so important for our team chemistry."

The Cyclones were hit .346 and picked up five blocks in the first set against the Golden Eagles, including a solo block from freshman Hurtt. Matlock was four-for-four with no errors and three block assists as Matlock and Jenson paced the Cyclones with four kills each.

The Golden Eagles wouldn't go down easily though, forcing 15 ties and three lead changes in game two before the Cyclones held on for the 26-24 win. As the teams headed to the locker room, seven Cyclones had at least three digs and six had two or more kills.

It was all Iowa State in set three as the squad hit .359 (15-1-39) and held Southern Miss to just seven kills. The visitors from Hattiesburg, Miss. had 22 more attack attempts than the Cyclones but committed 25 errors in the match and walked away with a .050 hitting percentage.

Halie Ecker led Southern Miss in the match with 10 kills and Lisa Knecht and Elizabeth Rinaudo put up double-digit digs with 13 and 10, respectively.

In the night match, Iowa State had 15 kills in its 25-16 first-set win over Arizona State, led by Hurtt and Jenson who each put up four kills. The Cyclones hit .324 in the set while the Sun Devils had six fewer attacks and only 10 kills to go with five errors to amass a .161 hitting percentage.

Set two was close in the beginning with the Sun Devils jumping out to a 7-4 lead before the Cyclones came back behind Kelsey Petersen who had five kills in the set and was a perfect eight-for-eight through the first two sets. After grabbing only one block in the first set, Iowa State collected four in set two and held Arizona State to .048 hitting.

Arizona State jumped out fast again in set three, allowing Iowa State to tie the score five times but never relinquishing the lead. After hitting a combined .096 through two sets, the Sun Devils caught fire, hitting .400 with 16 kills and shutting down the Cyclone offense, which hit .147.

The Cyclones got its offense back together in the fourth set, posting a hitting percentage of .308, their third game hitting over .300 against ASU. The Cyclone defense also stepped up, restricting Arizona State to a .167 hitting clip for the set.

"I thought it was a pretty good day for us," Johnson-Lynch said. "We had a couple of stretches where our passing broke down and we lost our composure a little bit, particularly in the second match. We beat two great teams today; Arizona State is a very athletic team. They are used to seeing teams like us all the time in the Pac-12. I was pleased to beat them tonight; I thought that was a solid win for us."

On Saturday, the Cyclones close out the Iowa State Challenge playing the Iowa Hawkeyes in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series at 2 p.m. Iowa went 2-0 on Friday with a wins over Arizona State and Southern Mississippi.

Click the embedded media player below for a post-match interview with head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch.

Christy Johnson Post-Match Interview

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Players Mentioned

Kristen Hahn

Kristen Hahn

Victoria Hurtt

Carly Jenson

Carly Jenson

Caitlin Mahoney

Caitlin Mahoney

Tenisha Matlock

Tenisha Matlock

Kelsey Petersen

Kelsey Petersen

Jamie Straube

Jamie Straube

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