Iowa State Falls to No. 10 Wisconsin

MADISON, Wisconsin – The Iowa State volleyball season came to an end Friday night when the Cyclones were swept 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-21) by Wisconsin at the UW Field House. Iowa State finishes the season with a 19-11 record, while the Badgers advance to the Regional Semifinals to take on Florida next Friday.

Jess Schaben led the Iowa State offense with 11 kills at a .321 hitting percentage, while Caitlin Nolan closed out her ISU career with a 14-dig effort.

Schaben's Hot Start Not Enough for ISU in First
Iowa State got an early edge in the first set, and it was thanks to the Big 12 Freshman of the Year Jess Schaben. The freshman racked up three-straight kills to take the set from a 3-3 tie to a 6-3 ISU advantage. However, the Badgers were not behind for long as a strong run of serving by Haleigh Nelson, capped off by an ace tied things back up at 8-8. The Badger block frustrated the Cyclone attack, as they got a pair of blocks to get back ahead, which led to ISU shooting over the block and out of play.

The Badgers continued to take advantage of Iowa State errors, building the advantage up to seven points at 19-12. The Cyclones had a little fightback in them, but the Badgers were able to pull back ahead by seven at 23-16 on an ace from Nelson. UW got set point at 24-18 on a kill by Romana Kriskova and converted the set when Ciara Capezio's shot sailed over the Wisconsin block at 25-18.

All Badgers in Set Two
The Iowa State offense continued to struggle to get on the board to start the second set. The ISU attack and defense were able to force some longer rallies, but the Badgers were the side with the killer instinct. Wisconsin rolled out to a 9-3 advantage, and was eventually able to build the lead to seven points at 14-7. ISU was able to use a 3-0 run to help reduce the Badger advantage to four at 14-10, led by a trio of kills in a row by Morgan Kuhrt.

However, UW didn't take long to find its groove back, eventually running its advantage to nine points at 24-15, when Lauren Carlini and Nelson teamed to block Capezio. The Badgers closed out the set on the next point when Nelson teamed with Kelli Bates to deny Kuhrt and claim the second 25-15.

Wisconsin Rallies to Complete Sweep
ISU rocketed out of the locker room, playing with the energy that had been needed the previous two sets. Both sides worked hard throughout multiple long rallies early on, but it was ISU who stormed ahead 6-2 early on. However, just like the first set Wisconsin did not waste time getting back into the set, tying things at 8-8 on a Bates ace, and moving ahead at 9-8 when Alexis Conaway was called for a handling error. ISU was able to fight back, returning to the lead at 10-9 on a kill by Conaway.

The Badgers were able to ensure the Cyclones did not pull ahead by more than two points, and eventually made their move with a 3-0 run, capped by a Tionna Williams kill to move back ahead 20-19. Schaben quickly tied it back up at 20-20 with another kill, but Williams responded with a kill of her own to get the Badgers back ahead for good. Match point came up at 24-21 on a service error by Branen Berta, and was converted on the first try by a kill from Nelson at 25-21 to end the match.

Cyclone Notes
*Iowa State is now 16-11 all-time in NCAA Volleyball Championship matches.
*Caitlin Nolan finished with 14 digs, her 77th career match with at least 10 digs.
*Nolan finishes the season with 618 digs, the third-highest total in Iowa State history.
*Jess Schaben recorded 11 kills, her 20th match of 2015 with at least 10 kills.

Team Stats

Jess Schaben

Morgan Kuhrt

Samara West

Alexis Conaway

Players Mentioned

Branen Berta

Ciara Capezio

Alexis Conaway

Morgan Kuhrt

Caitlin Nolan

Jess Schaben

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics