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Iowa State University Athletics
Cyclones Face Another Top-20 Foe This Weekend
08.29.2012 | Volleyball
AMES, Iowa – The No. 15 Cyclones (1-2, 0-0 Big 12) are on the road again this weekend, heading to No. 19 Illinois (1-2, 0-0 Big Ten) for two matches. The weekend's contests come in the midst of a five-match stretch against top-20 opponents.
Iowa State freshman Mackenzie Bigbee (Williamsburg, Iowa) will look to repeat her breakout performances in the Cyclones' opening weekend where she collected a team-high 37 kills, an average of 2.85 kills per set. Senior Rachel Hockaday (Decatur, Ill.) returns to her home state in search of her third double-double of the season after posting double digits in kills and digs against both Cincinnati and No. 12 Florida State last weekend.
The Illini dropped two matches last weekend, falling at Dayton in straight sets and to No. 11 Pepperdine. Redshirt freshman Jocelynn Birks lit up opponents for 44 kills in 10 sets and middle blocker Anna Dorn added 18 kills on .375 hitting during the weekend.
Defensively, Erin Johnson and Dorn lead the Illini. Johnson had 12 blocks, one solo and 11 assists, in Illinois' first three matches while Dorn added nine block assists.
Match one of the weekend series begins at 7 p.m. Friday at Huff Hall with match two following on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Both times central.
Cyclone Notebook
• The Cyclones go east to Champaign, Ill. this weekend for two matches at No. 7 Illinois.
• As they head to Illinois, the Cyclones are in the middle of a stretch of five-straight matches against top-25 opponents.
• The five-match stretch matches the longest streak of top-25 opponents in school history and is the only such stretch during the regular season. In 2007, the Cyclones played five-straight matches against ranked opponents spanning the end of the regular season and the postseason.
• The Cyclones played two five-set matches last weekend, falling to No. 12 Florida State and No. 15 Tennessee.
• Junior middle blocker Tenisha Matlock had a career-high three solo blocks against the Lady Vols on Saturday.
• Freshman right side Mackenzie Bigbee debuted with 37 total kills over the three-match stretch, posting double-digit kill numbers in each match.
• Bigbee was one of the top two scorers in all three matches.
• Bigbee leads all Cyclones with a .313 hitting percentage (37-11-83) after the first weekend of play.
• Playing against Florida State, redshirt freshman Tory Knuth smashed three kills, a solo block and two block assists in her first match for the Cyclones after redshirting the 2011 season.
• Setter/outside hitter Andie Malloy had 27 digs on the weekend and four service aces as she spent most of her time in the back row.
• In a limited front row role, Malloy picked up six kills.
• Defensive specialist Caitlin Nolan spread the court for 31 digs and numerous saves.
• In her first season back playing a full rotation since an ACL injury in 2010, senior Rachel Hockaday had double-doubles against both Cincinnati and Florida State.
• With 136 assists in the first three matches of 2012, Alison Landwehr cracks the top-5 assist leaders in Iowa State history. Landwehr is 246 assists shy of fourth place.
• Blocking will be a focus for the Cyclones as they prepare for the next round of ranked foes after being out-blocked in each of their first three matches.
• Iowa State won the first set in each of their matches last weekend, a trend that leads to wins 87 percent of the time since Christy Johnson-Lynch took over as head coach.
• The Cyclones have also been out-dug by opponents in their first three matches.
• Tennessee's Kelsey Robinson had five aces against Iowa State, the most aces by an opponent since UW-Milwaukee's Kellye Zaporski in 2008.
• Robinson also posted 34.5 points, the most points by an opponent since Destinee Hooker of Texas had 31 against Iowa State in 2009.
Streaks and Trends
• Iowa State opponents have hit over .300 just 15 times in 226 matches under Johnson-Lynch.
• Iowa State went 14-3 in three set matches in 2011 and are 1-0 in 2012. Under Johnson-Lynch, Iowa State is 90-32 in three set matches.
• Behind Johnson-Lynch's leadership, the Cyclones win 87% (122-18) of their matches when earning the first set victory.
• 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.
Scouting No. 19 Illinois
• The Illini return four starters and their libero from last season's NCAA Championship Runner-Up team.
• Illinois is 1-2 after falling to Dayton and No. 11 Pepperdine during opening weekend.
• Redshirt freshman Jocelynn Birks had 19 kills in Illinois' win over Ohio on Saturday. Sophomore Liz McMahon had 14 kills.
• After three matches, Birks is averaging 4.40 kills per set heading into Friday's match.
• Erin Johnson added six blocks (1 solo, 5 assists) in the victory.
• Johnson totaled 12 total blocks last weekend, one solo, 11 assists.
• In 10 sets, Annie Luhrsen has collected 107 assists.
Players Mentioned
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