ISU Advance to Second Round, Sweeps No. 25 WKU

CHAMPAIGN, Illinois – The Iowa State volleyball team advanced to the second round of the 2014 NCAA Volleyball Championship with a sweep of No. 25 WKU 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 26-24) Friday night at Huff Hall. The win improved ISU to 19-9 on the season. The Cyclones will take on No. 9 Illinois in a second roun matchup Saturday at 7 p.m.

Morgan Kurht led ISU with 14 kills at a career-high .464 hitting percentage and a career-high 15 digs. Victoria Hurtt added nine kills and Caitlin Nolan tied with Kuhrt to lead the defense with 15 digs.

Story of the Match
An even start to affairs in the first set quickly turned in the Cyclones favor. Tied 7-7, an attack error by WKU's Alyssa Cavanaugh brought Monique Harris back on to serve and set. The Cyclones put together a 7-0 on the back of a strong attack, with Ciara Capezio getting a pair of kills, blocking with Capezio and Alexis Conaway pairing up for a couple of blocks and Harris herself, as the freshman recorded an ace and a kill that saw ISU move ahead 14-7. The gap was all the Cyclones needed as ISU continued to get strong blocking, recording 5.0 blocks in the first frame. Iowa State also rode a strong serve, with three aces and no service errors. Tory Knuth closed out the first with a kill to give ISU the first frame 25-13.

The second set started off as another even affair with both teams seeing the lead early. WKU improved its serve and pass, recording a couple of aces, but ISU continued to hit and block at a high level. ISU finally got some separation at 9-9 with Conaway blocking Jessica Lucas' setter dump and Kuhrt recording back-to-back kills to make it 12-9 Cyclones. The lead didn't last long as a pair of ISU mistakes and a Lucas ace quickly tied things back up at 12-12. It was Kuhrt again who came to the rescue as she and Victoria Hurtt recorded back-to-back kills to move ISU back ahead 14-12. With ISU's lead at 16-14, the Cyclones finally got its run it need to get ahead for good as a pair of Mackenzie Bigbee kills and a WKU error gave ISU a 19-14 advantage. The Lady Toppers refused to go away, as they went on a 5-1 run to reduce ISU's advantage to 22-20. ISU bounced back quickly as kills by Hurtt and Caitlin Nolan gave ISU set point at 24-20. WKU was able to fight off a pair of points, but Hurtt stepped up with another kill and ISU got the second set 25-22.

Western Kentucky enjoyed the early spoils of the third set. With Iowa State ahead 6-5, WKU ran off four-straight points to move ahead 9-6. ISU looked to have gotten things back together at 9-8 WKU, but the Lady Toppers ran off the next six points, powered by a pair of service aces to up its lead to 15-8. ISU took its second timeout and responded with four-straight points behind the strong-serving Harris to reduce the WKU lead to 15-12. The runs continued as WKU then got the next three points to restore a six-point advantage at 18-12. The pendulum continued its swinging as ISU then ran off three of its own to narrow the WKU lead to 18-15. The Cyclones would not go away as they went on a 4-1 run to reduce the WKU lead to one at 20-19. The Cyclones tied it up at 21-21 on a Capezio kill, but WKU bounced back for the next two points, ISU took the next three as a Haley Bodway attack error brought up match point. WKU fought it off as Lucas and Boyan blocked Capezio, but a Rachel Engle service error brought match point again. Hurtt ended it will a kill down the line and ISU's season lasted another day.

Cyclone GameBall Goes to…
Morgan Kuhrt. Kuhrt had one of her best matches in a Cyclone jersey on the biggest stage of the season. Kuhrt offered ISU attacking options all around the net and from the back, while also contributing solidly to the defensive effort. She was also a force serving, posting her third two-ace match of the season.

Cyclone Notes
*Iowa State is now 15-9 all-time in NCAA Volleyball Championship matches, 8-2 in the first round.
*Morgan Kuhrt finished with 15 kills, her 10th match with at least 10 kills this season and first time she has reached double figrures in an NCAA Championship match.
*Kuhrt also posted a career-high 15 digs for her fourth double-double of her career. Her previous career high was 14 against TCU on Nov. 15.
*Caitlin Nolan led ISU with 15 digs, her 26th match with at least 10 digs this season.
*Nolan now has 595 digs on the season, five away from the sixth 600-dig season in Iowa State history.
*With her nine kills, Victoria Hurtt moves into fourth place all-time in Iowa State's all-time NCAA Championship kills list, passing Kelsey Petersen's 81. Hurtt now has 87 kills in her NCAA Championship tenure in eight career matches.

On Deck
Iowa State will take on the winner of No. 10 Illinois and Murray State tomorrow night at 7 p.m. inside Huff Hall.

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Team Stats

Morgan Kuhrt

Victoria Hurtt

Ciara Capezio

Mackenzie Bigbee

Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Bigbee

Mackenzie Bigbee

Ciara Capezio

Ciara Capezio

Alexis Conaway

Monique Harris

Victoria Hurtt

Victoria Hurtt

Tory Knuth

Tory Knuth

Morgan Kuhrt

Morgan Kuhrt

Caitlin Nolan

Caitlin Nolan

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