Iowa State Takes Down No. 25 Texas A&M, 3-1

Friday, September 11

Iowa City, Iowa

1:30 PM

Iowa State

5-2

Texas A&M

4-2

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Iowa State	25	25	23	25	3
Texas A&M	16	16	25	20	1

Iowa State Takes Down No. 25 Texas A&M, 3-1

09.11.2015 | Volleyball

Box Score Stats

By: cyclones.com

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Iowa State earned its first win over a ranked opponent in 2015 with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-16, 23-25, 25-20) win over Texas A&M Friday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. The win moved ISU to 5-2 on the season, while Texas A&M slipped to 4-2.

Ciara Capezio led Iowa State's winning effort with 15 kills and 15 digs, while Jess Schaben and Samara West each posted 13 digs. Caitlin Nolan recorded 23 digs on the afternoon.

Back to the 5-1, and Back in Style
Still without the services of the injured Suzanne Horner, Iowa State went back to a 5-1 offense with Monique Harris setting all rotations. The Cyclones handled the transition with ease, leading almost the entire set. The Cyclones got contributions from all around the court to control the attack. The most surprising was from Morgan Kuhrt, who was playing back row only. In spite of not being allowed to cross the 10-foot line, Kuhrt still made an impact on offense, getting three kills on four swings.

ISU took the lead at 4-3 on a block by Jess Schaben and Alexis Conaway and built the lead from there. The Cyclones worked the lead to 15-10 on an attack error by Texas A&M's Kiara McGee, but the Aggies worked back to reduce the ISU advantage to 18-15. From there, the Cyclones ripped off six-straight points, with Schaben providing a pair of kills on the run to bring up set point. TAMU held off one set point, but Harris put up a quick-set kill for Samara West to give ISU the first 25-16.

Harris Serves Up Another Big Run
Monique Harris posted one of the best ISU serving performances of recent memory last weekend against VCU with her five-ace effort, and in the second set against Texas A&M, the sophomore setter was at it again. With the Cyclone lead at 8-7, Harris went back to serve. After getting two points, Harris launched the ace of the season for ISU, a quick-dipping rocket the Aggies had no hope of returning to make it 11-7 Cyclones. She would have two more aces on a 9-0 run that took the Cyclone advantage up to 17-7.

While the Cyclones would not match the sharpness of the early part of the set, the damage was done. The Aggies were able to pull Iowa State to within five at 21-16. However, ISU closed it out on four-straight points, taking advantage of a pair of A&M errors, and getting kills from Ciara Capezio and Alexis Conaway to take the second set 25-16.

The Aggies Strike Back
Texas A&M did not give up in spite of ISU's convincing wins in the first two sets. Iowa State enjoyed the lead for the first three points of the set, but reclaimed control and built up a lead to 6-3. Iowa State and Texas A&M exchanged points, and the Cyclones were able to reduce the Aggie edge to 8-7. However, A&M came back with a 5-0 run to post its biggest lead of the set at 13-7.

The game of runs would continue as Iowa State responded with a 4-0 run to reduce the Aggies advantage to 13-11. The Aggies would eventually pull away again to 19-13 ahead, but the Cyclones had one last fight back in them. The Cyclones went on an 8-2 run, combining strong offense from Schaben and West with good defense to tie things back up at 21-21.

Texas A&M was able to regain its lead on kills from Angela Lowak and Jazzmin Babers to make it 23-21. Jess Schaben got a kill to reduce the lead to one, but A&M brought up set point on another kill by Lowak. Schaben was at it again to fight off the first set point with a kill, but Lowak got her third kill in four points to take the set 25-23 and force a fourth set.

No Doubts
Apart from the first three sets, and most of the season for that matter, Iowa State wasted absolutely no time getting ahead in the set. The Cyclones were energetic on offense, with Capezio and West both posting multiple kills as ISU ripped off seven of the first eight points in the first set. The Iowa State advantage would get pushed on to 11-2 as Ciara Capezio served up two aces in the space of three points.

Iowa State continued to ride its lead throughout the fourth set, but Texas A&M made one last run at coming back, reducing the ISU advantage to three points on multiple occasions, the latest at 20-17 ISU. However, the Cyclones would seal the deal with Samara West getting her 13th kill of the match at 25-20.

Cyclone Game Ball Goes to…
Ciara Capezio. The Cyclone junior was outstanding in all aspects of the game, leading from the front and the back in the Cyclone victory. Capezio posted her third double-double of the season with 15 kills and 15 digs. She also contributed two aces and a solo block in the winning effort.

Cyclone Notes
*The win over No. 25 Texas A&M marked ISU's 40th all-time victory over a ranked opponent, 34 under the guidance of Christy Johnson-Lynch.
*Caitlin Nolan finished with 23 digs, her 19th career match with at least 20 digs, and her 25th-straight match in double figures.
*Nolan's 19 20-dig matches are now the fourth-most in school history, passing Katie Churm (2003-06) on 18.
*Monique Harris, in her first full match as a 5-1 setter at Iowa State, recorded a career-best 47 assists.
*Samara West posted 13 kills, her third match in 2015 with at least 10 kills.
*Ciara Capezio posted her third double-double of the season, and 17th of her career with 15 kills and 15 digs.
*Capezio record 15 kills, her third match this season in double figures, and the 32nd in her career.
*Capezio's 15 digs marked her third match in double-figures in 2015 and the 22nd of her career.
*Jess Schaben posted 13 kills, her fifth match this season with at least 10 kills.

Up Next
Iowa State is back in action tonight in the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series match-up. First serve will be at 8 p.m., and the match can be watched online via the subscription-based service BTN Plus.