No. 12 Rams Rally Past Cyclones in Five Sets

Saturday, November 28

Fort Collins, Colo.

2:00 PM

Iowa State

18-10 (11-5Big 12)

Colorado State

26-3 (19-0MW)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Iowa State	26	10	25	19	12	2
Colorado State	24	25	23	25	15	3

No. 12 Rams Rally Past Cyclones in Five Sets

11.28.2015 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: cyclones.com

FORT COLLINS, Colorado – The Iowa State volleyball team gave No. 12 Colorado State its best shot Saturday at Moby Arena, but the Rams ended up prevailing in five sets 3-2 (24-26, 25-10, 23-25, 25-19, 15-12). The loss drops ISU to 18-10 on the season, while CSU improved to 26-3.

Jess Schaben led the Iowa State attack with 18 kills, while Morgan Kuhrt had 17. Ciara Capezio posted her third-straight double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs, while Caitlin Nolan led the Iowa State back-line with 23 digs.

Dominant Kuhrt Guides ISU to First Set Win
The Rams had three-point leads at 3-0 and 10-7, but both times the Cyclones were able to bounce back and ensure CSU did not pull away too much. After a Ciara Capezio kill made it 10-8 CSU, Monique Harris went back to serve, and helped kick through a 4-0 run that got ISU its first lead of the match at 11-10 via a big Jess Schaben kill. Colorado State struggled to slow down Schaben and Morgan Kuhrt early on, as Kuhrt got kills on each of her first seven shots to get ISU an 18-14 advantage.

Kuhrt's trip to the back-row allowed the Rams to inch their way back into the set, as an ace by Cassidy Denny reduced the Cyclones' lead to 20-19. However, CSU gave back ISU a bigger advantage as Adrianna Culbert sent a shot long and a handling error on Crystal Young made it 22-19 ISU. However, Colorado State was able to tie it back up as Kuhrt had back-to-back attack errors to tie things back up at 22-22. A Schaben kill brought up set point at 24-23, but the Rams fought it off. Kuhrt had a huge kill to give ISU another set point at 25-24, which ISU converted when Acacia Andrews' shot went wide at 26-24.

Colorado State Dominates to Tie the Match
The Rams came out of the gates in the second set strong again, putting ISU into an early 9-3 hole. CSU applied pressure to ISU from behind the service line in particular, getting easy kills and putting the Cyclone offense out of sync. If it was not the serving that was getting the better of Iowa State, it was the blocking of the Rams that was slowing down the Cyclones as the Rams built up a 15-7 lead.

The Colorado State offense found another gear, finishing the second set with a .458 hitting percentage, and bringing up set point at 24-10 on a kill by Jasmine Hanna, and converted on the first try with a block from Hanna and Alexandra Poletto of Alexis Conaway to clinch the second set 25-10 and tie the match.

Iowa State Comeback Makes it 2-1 Cyclones
It was Capezio who got the Cyclones going in the third set, the junior went behind the service line tied 2-2 and fired back-to-back service aces to give Iowa State a 4-2 lead. The Cyclones were aggressive on offense, which helped throw CSU off its game and build the ISU edge to 7-4. The Rams went back to work from behind the service line, tying it up at 10-10 on a Young ace, but Samara West stepped up to help keep ISU alive and ahead. However, the Rams got back ahead at 13-12 on a Poletto kill.

Once the Rams got ahead, ISU struggled to reel the 12th-ranked home side back in. Iowa State finally got the CSU lead back down to one at 18-17, but Colorado State followed by reeling off three-straight points to get its biggest lead of the set at 21-17. Iowa State was not done yet, recording four in a row to tie it back up at 21-21. The Cyclones kept rolling, as Capezio stuffed Culbert to take the lead, and ISU made it 23-21 on an attack error by Hanna. A Capezio kill down the line brought up set point at 24-22, which CSU fought off the first time, but Schaben rose up and fired a kill through the block to clinch the third 25-23.

Late Rams Run Forces Fifth Set
It took a few points for either side to get some breathing room in the fourth set, as the Cyclones struggled to contain the CSU offense, but the Rams were giving points back behind the service line. It was an ace from Young that gave CSU the first lead of more than a point to either side at 7-5, which the Rams then built to four at 12-8 on a Culbert ace.

The Rams got ahead by five points on multiple occasions, but struggled to put away the Cyclones for good. ISU made its run down 18-13, running off three points in a row to cut the CSU advantage to 18-16 on a Conaway service ace. The Cyclones finally got the Colorado State lead down to one at 19-18 when Andrews sent a shot wide, but the Rams responded with four in a row to get back up 23-18. Colorado State reached set point at 24-19 on an Alex Reid kill, and converted on the first try on a Poletto kill at 25-19.

Colorado State Powers Past ISU in Fifth
Iowa State had the early edge in the fifth set, as a Schaben kill gave the Cyclones a 3-1 edge. However, CSU battled back to tie it and eventually pull ahead at 6-5 when Harris was called in the net on her set. The Rams got ahead by two points at the switch of sides when Culbert fired a shot off Capezio's block to move ahead 8-6.

Iowa State tied it back up at 9-9 via a kill off the block by Kuhrt and Capezio's fourth ace of the afternoon, just grazing the back-line of Moby Arena. The teams traded ties and CSU leads, until Colorado State brought up match point at 14-12, when Harris' setter dump was blocked by Hanna. The CSU block stepped up again on match point, with Sanja Cizmic and Andrews teaming up to deny Capezio and take the set 15-12 and the match.

Cyclone Notes
*Morgan Kuhrt finished with 17 kills, her 12th match of 2015 with at least 10 kills and 25th of her career.
*Caitlin Nolan recorded 23 digs, her 15th match of 2015 with at least 20 digs and 30th of her career.
*Nolan's 30 20-dig matches are the third-most in ISU history, passing Steph McCannon's 29.
*Ciara Capezio posted 12 kills and 11 digs, her third-straight double-double, ninth of the season and 24th of her career.
*Capezio also tied her season-high with four service aces. She also had four aces at West Virginia on Nov. 11.
*Jess Schaben recorded 18 kills, the 18th time in 2015 she has recorded at least 10 kills.
*Schaben now has 318 kills in her freshman year, passing Mackenzie Bigbee for the second-most by a freshman in ISU history.

Up Next
Iowa State will await its fate for the NCAA Volleyball Championship. The NCAA Volleyball Championship Selection Show will be tomorrow at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.

The Iowa State volleyball team invites its fans to join the team at ISU's Selection Show Watch Party at Heartland Hall inside the Jacobson Athletics Building. Doors will open at 7:45 p.m. for the 8 p.m. show.