Iowa State Defeats Baylor on Senior Night

Tuesday, November 24

Ames, Iowa

6:30 PM

Iowa State

18-9, 11-5

Baylor

16-13, 4-11

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Baylor	20	16	25	21	1
Iowa State	25	25	20	25	3

Iowa State Defeats Baylor on Senior Night

11.24.2015 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State volleyball team closed out the 2015 season with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-16, 20-25, 25-21) win over Baylor Tuesday night at Hilton Coliseum. The Cyclones' Senior Night win improved ISU to 18-9 overall on the season and 11-5 in Big 12 play. Baylor is now 16-13 on the season, 4-11 in conference action.

Morgan Kuhrt led the ISU offense with 14 kills, while Samara West had 12 kills at a .476 hitting percentage. Ciara Capezio had a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs, and Caitlin Nolan celebrated Senior Night with 21 digs.

Late Run Gives Iowa State Set One
Baylor got the early separation with 3-0 run, mainly due to the strong serve of defensive specialist Jana Brusek, which got the Bears a solid lead at 9-6. The Cyclones worked their way back in, working through the efficient Samara West, who had three kills in a 6-0 run that saw the Cyclones move back ahead 15-12. While the Bears were able to battle back to a one-point deficit at 15-14, the Cyclones continued to pile on the pressure on offense and behind the service line.

The Bears tied it back up at 19-19, when Monique Harris was called in the net on a 50-50 ball at the net, but the Cyclones were back ahead the next point on a Ciara Capezio kill. Capezio kept her high-level of play up to get ISU ahead for good, teaming with West on a block of Tola Itiola and then getting another kill to get Iowa State ahead 22-19. Set point came at 24-20 on a Jess Schaben roll shot from the back row, which was converted on the first try when Andie Malloy's shot sailed wide at 25-20.

Big Early Advantage Enough for ISU in Second Set Win
Iowa State broke out with a big 6-0 run early in the set to get ahead 12-5. The Cyclones were able to rely on offense from all around the court, with Kuhrt and West being productive up front and Schaben making an impact from the back row. Once Baylor ended the run, the Bears hurt their own chances of getting back into the set with back-to-back rotation errors to make the ISU advantage 14-6.

The Bears got back into the set via the serving of Malloy, who dished out three-straight aces as part of a 4-0 run that got the ISU lead down to 15-13. The Cyclones steadied the ship and pulled ahead via some outstanding attacking play from Alexis Conaway, whose back-to-back kills were part of a 4-0 run to get the Cyclones ahead by six again at 21-15. ISU got its first set point at 24-16 when Capezio and West teamed to stuff Itiola, and converted on the first try when Adrien Richburg's shot sailed wide at 25-16.

Baylor Holds on to Force Fourth Set
The Bears were the team leading for most of the third set, but ISU did well to keep Baylor from building a lead of more than two points. The Cyclones were able to tie the set at 3-3, 6-6, 8-8 and 11-11, but each time the Bears got the side-out and stayed ahead. It was Malloy's trip behind the service line that once again saw Baylor pull ahead, as BU got its largest lead of the set at 14-11.

An ISU timeout did little to stem the tide, as the Bears eventually got ahead by four at 16-12 on a setting violation by Harris. The second Cyclone timeout was also not of assistance, as Baylor eventually pulled ahead to 22-14. Iowa State made a final run to try and get back into the set, running off three in a row to reduce the BU advantage to five points at 22-17, but Amy Rosenbaum came up with a clutch setter dump to end the Cyclone resistance. ISU held off three set points, but Baylor eventually got its needed final point on a Jordan Vail kill to take the third 25-20.

Vondrak Leads ISU to Match Win in Fourth Set
Baylor racked up the first three points of the set, but ISU did not waste time getting back into the frame, taking six of the next seven points. Natalie Vondrak came off the bench for Schaben and her back-to-back kills gave the Cyclones a 6-4 advantage. The Cyclone offense continued to bring it, with ISU's outsides getting more involved to help the Cyclones pull ahead. It was Vondrak in particular who shone, with the redshirt junior racking up six kills in the first 13 ISU points.

The Bears would not go away easily, reeling the Cyclone edge down to one point on multiple occasions. Like how Baylor was able to stay ahead in the third, the same was true for Iowa State in the fourth, as Baylor was never able to overcome the deficit. Harris fired her third ace of the evening to make it 21-18 ISU, and that was enough of a gap for the Cyclones. ISU got match point at 24-21 on a West kill and finished the match with Vondrak's seventh kill of the frame at 25-21.

Cyclone Notes
*Morgan Kuhrt recorded 14 kills, her 11th match in double figures in 2015 and 24th of her career.
*Caitlin Nolan is up to 419 career sets played, the 10th-most in Iowa State history.
*Nolan finished with 21 digs, her second-straight match over 20 digs, 14th of 2015 and 29th of her career.
*Samara West posted 12 kills, her seventh match of 2015 in double figures and 11th of her career.
*Ciara Capezio had 11 kills and 11 digs for her second-straight double-double, her eighth of the season and 23rd of her career.
*Jess Schaben finished with nine kills, giving her 300 on the season. She is the third freshman in ISU history to surpass 300 kills in a season (Rachel Hockaday – 2008 and Mackenzie Bigbee – 2012).

Up Next
Iowa State closes out the regular season Saturday at No. 12 Colorado State. First serve between the Cyclones and Rams in Fort Collins will be at 2 p.m. Central Time.