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2014 Iowa State Volleyball Season in Review
12.23.2014 | Volleyball
AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State volleyball team wrapped up the 2014 season this month, appearning in its ninth-consecutive NCAA Volleyball Championship, advancing to the second round. ISU finished the season with a 19-10 overall record, and 10-6 in the Big 12 en route to finishing tied for second in the Big 12.
Cyclone Nation witnessed some record-breaking seasons from Caitlin Nolan and Alexis Conaway along with some historic wins for the Cyclone volleyball program.
The best moments of 2014 are categorized and highlighted below.
Matches of the Year
The best match of the season is a toss-up between a pair of dramatic five-set wins. The first came on Oct. 22 at Hilton Coliseum against Kansas. The Cyclones and Jayhawks played a very even match throughout the first four sets before undertaking a dramatic fifth set. The apex of drama came during the fifth set at 8-8 when the two teams traded-off during one of longest rallies of the season which featured a combined 11 thawted attack attempts before Victoria Hurtt put away a kill to give ISU a lead it would not relinquish en route to a 15-12 fifth-set win. The win over the Jayhawks also featured a record-breaking performance from Caitlin Nolan, who broke an ISU record and tied a Big 12 record with 43 digs in the match.
Cyclone Nation witnessed some record-breaking seasons from Caitlin Nolan and Alexis Conaway along with some historic wins for the Cyclone volleyball program.
The best moments of 2014 are categorized and highlighted below.
Matches of the Year
The best match of the season is a toss-up between a pair of dramatic five-set wins. The first came on Oct. 22 at Hilton Coliseum against Kansas. The Cyclones and Jayhawks played a very even match throughout the first four sets before undertaking a dramatic fifth set. The apex of drama came during the fifth set at 8-8 when the two teams traded-off during one of longest rallies of the season which featured a combined 11 thawted attack attempts before Victoria Hurtt put away a kill to give ISU a lead it would not relinquish en route to a 15-12 fifth-set win. The win over the Jayhawks also featured a record-breaking performance from Caitlin Nolan, who broke an ISU record and tied a Big 12 record with 43 digs in the match.
GAME, SET, MATCH! Iowa State defeats Kansas 3-2 (18-25, 25-16, 25-17, 21-25, 15-12). #Cyclones
— Cyclone Volleyball (@CycloneVB) October 23, 2014
The second match came on Nov. 12 at No. 24 Oklahoma. The showdown with the Sooners was a match of high-powered offense, with ISU hitting .298 let by Alexis Conaway's career-best 15 kills at a career-best .560 hitting percentage. The Sooners did not back down either as junior outside hitter Kierra Holst broke OU's school record with 32 kills in the match. The Cyclones battled back from 2-1 down to force a fifth set, which ISU dominated via a .571 hitting percentage at 15-9.
Game, Set, Match! Iowa State takes down No. 24 Oklahoma 3-2 (23-25, 30-28, 23-25, 25-21, 15-9)! #Cyclones
— Cyclone Volleyball (@CycloneVB) November 13, 2014
While those will go down as the best matches, the most important match came on Nov. 5 against No. 22 Kansas State. Heading into the match, Christy Johnson-Lynch made the decision to switch her squad to a 6-2 offense, utilitzing two setters in the form of Monique Harris and Suzanne Horner. The decision paid off as the Cyclones swept the Wildcats to bein a stretch of seven wins in eight matches.
Good morning #cyclONEnation! How are you feeling after last night's win? We agree with Morgan Kuhrt. #Cyclones pic.twitter.com/9Ja7nV40eA
— Cyclone Volleyball (@CycloneVB) November 6, 2014
#LiberoU Carries On
One of, if not the biggest, storyline heading into 2014 was the big shoes that needed to be filled of three-time All-American libero Kristen Hahn. The duty and honor was earned by junior Caitlin Nolan and she delivered a sensational season, culminating in earning AVCA Third Team All-America honors last week.
It's 3 All American's in one place! @kerrileewalsh @CJohnsonLynch @caitlinnolann @CycloneVB #AVCAConvention pic.twitter.com/DjVEWBiz7O
— Jon Newman-Gonchar (@JonNewman14) December 19, 2014
For the seventh conseucitve year, ISU's libero earned Big 12 Libero of the Year as Nolan picked up this year's honor via a unanimous vote. Iowa State's seven Big 12 LoY honors are the same as the rest of the Big 12 combined in the history of the conference. Nolan was also an All-Big 12 First Team selection, marking the sixth time a libero has earned All-Big 12 First Team in conference history, five of those honors were picked up by Cyclone liberos.
The stats from Nolan's 2014 season are among the best in program history. Her 5.74 digs per set is the highest in school history, surpassing the 5.71 dps Hahn posted last season. Her 614 digs are the third-most in school history. Nolan finished with at least 10 digs in 27 matches, 20 digs in 15 matches (the third-most 20-dig matches in a season in ISU history) and tied the ISU school record with her four 30-plus dig matches, including the record-breaking 43-dig match against Kansas on Oct. 22.
Historic Hurtt
Victoria Hurtt closed out her Iowa State career with a bang as she put forth a great final season to help lead the Cyclones to the second round of the NCAA Volleyball Championship. Hurtt was named to the All-Big 12 First Team, averaging 2.66 kills per set and 0.57 blocks per set. Her numbers picked up when ISU switched to its 6-2 offense. In the final nine matches of the season, Hurtt saw her offensive production bump up to 2.94 kills per set.
Hurtt's All-Big 12 First Team honor made her the eighth multi-time All-Big 12 First Teamer under Johnson-Lynch. In ISU's win over Texas Tech on Nov. 26, Hurtt became the ninth player in school history to record 1,000 career kills. She finished her career with 1,033 career kills.
There it is! 1,000 career kills for Victoria Hurtt, ninth Cyclone to acheive the mark. #Cyclones
— Cyclone Volleyball (@CycloneVB) November 27, 2014
Freshman Phenom
Alexis Conaway arrived on Iowa State's campus two days prior to the start of fall practice, with a real possibility of taking a redshirt year while adjusting to college volleyball and her new position of middle blocker after being an outside in high school. To say Conaway has come a long way would be an understatement.
Conaway was brilliant in the middle for ISU, earning All-Big 12 Honorable Mention honors and being named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. Her numbers were historic as her .321 hitting percentage was the fourth-best in program history, and the best by a freshman by 33 points.
While strong offensively, she was as strong defensively as Conaway finished eighth in the Big 12 with 1.09 blocks per set. Her 113 total blocks tied for the most by a freshman in ISU history while her 106 block assists were a new ISU freshman record.
Busy Year for CJL
The year of head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch was not uneventful, both on and off the court. On the court, Johnson-Lynch made a historic strategic move in switching to the 6-2 offense late in the season for the first time in her career as a player or a coach. The move was not without risks as she readily admitted after the match that the decision would "make us look really smart, or really stupid".
On the court, Johnson-Lynch reached a historic milestone in ISU's sweep at South Dakota as she picked up her 200th career win as a head coach, all coming at Iowa State. It took her 297 matches to reach 200 wins. Prior to her tenure, it took ISU 523 matches to get its program's previous 200 wins.
Congratulations to Coach @CJohnsonLynch on career victory #200! #cyclONEnation salutes you! pic.twitter.com/N9rstacThT
— CYd-Out Crew (@CYdOutCrew) October 15, 2014
Off the court, Johnson-Lynch added a new job title as she was elected by her peers to become the President of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). On Jan. 1, 2015, Johnson-Lynch will join the AVCA Board of Directors as President Elect. She will take over as President from Illinois head coach Kevin Hambly on Jan. 1, 2016 and will serve for two years. Starting on Jan. 1, 2018, Johnson-Lynch will serve on the Board of Directors as Past President after her successor takes over as President.
We are pleased to announce @CycloneVB Head Coach @CJohnsonLynch has been named the #AVCA President Elect! Her term begins Jan. 1, 2015.
— AVCA (@AVCAVolleyball) October 31, 2014
Players Mentioned
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