Cyclones Drop Tight Encounter with No. 4 Nebraska

Saturday, September 19

Ames, Iowa

4:00 PM

Iowa State

7-4

Nebraska

9-1

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Nebraska	25	21	25	25	3
Iowa State	23	25	23	11	1

Cyclones Drop Tight Encounter with No. 4 Nebraska

09.19.2015 | Volleyball

Box Score Stats

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State volleyball team lost a hard fought match to No. 4 Nebraska Saturday at Hilton Coliseum, with the Huskers coming out on top 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 11-25) in front of a crowd of 3,810. The loss dropped ISU to 7-4, while NU is now 9-1.

Ciara Capezio led the Iowa State offense with 13 kills and 15 digs, while Monique Harris also added a double-double with 37 assists and 11 digs. Caitlin Nolan provided 25 digs, and Branen Berta chipped in with 12 digs.

Huskers Pull Away Late in Tight First Set
The first third of the first set was tight, with neither side able to pull ahead by multiple points until the Huskers got ahead 10-8 on an Amber Rolfzen kill. The advantage was short-lived, as ISU ran off the next four points to pull ahead 12-10, with two Jess Schaben kills powering the run.

The even play continued throughout the first set, until the Huskers built the first three-point edge on a setter dump by Kelly Hunter to make it 20-17 Nebraska. However, three points later it was tied again at 20-20 when Cecilia Hall fired back-to-back errors for NU. The next three points went to Nebraska, all via ISU errors and that was enough to close out the set. Nebraska brought up set point on Kadie Rolfzen kill, but had to wait a point to close it out after a service error. Mikaela Foecke got it on the next point as her kill gave Nebraska the first 25-23.

Cyclones Hang on to Even the Match
Iowa State wasted no time building up a big lead in the second set, as a 6-0 run took a 4-4 tie to a 10-4 Cyclone advantage. The run owed much credit to Ciara Capezio, with the junior scoring a kill and two solo blocks in three-straight points during the run. Iowa State opened that lead to seven points on multiple occasions, as ISU hit .444 for the set.

However, the Cornhuskers would not go away easy. Nebraska chipped away before reducing the Cyclone lead to two points on a pair of occasions. It was too little, too late for NU as a K. Rolfzen error brought up set point, which was finished by a powerful Capezio kill to give the second to ISU 25-21.

Nebraska Takes Another Tight Set
The third frame was tight again, as the first half of the set was played with the largest lead only going to two points. The Cyclones picked up a 14-12 edge on a Capezio kill, but Nebraska broke it open from there. A 6-0 backed by a strong short-serving effort from Husker libero Justine Wong-Orantes gave NU an 18-14 lead. Four points later, the lead was gone as three Capezio kills was able to even the set up at 18-18.

At 22-22, A. Rolfzen recorded a kill to get Nebraska ahead for good in the frame. The Cyclones held off one set point via a Morgan Kuhrt kill, but Nebraska clinched the set on a Mackenzie Bigbee blocking error on a Kelsey Fien shot to take the frame 25-23.

All Cornhuskers in the Fourth
The Cyclones had nothing for Nebraska in the fourth set as the Husker block stepped up to shutdown the Cyclones for good. Another strong, short-serving run gave NU a 9-0 advantage to start the frame, and the Huskers would continue to serve and block strongly as they built up a lead of as many as 13 points in the set. Foecke, a freshman from West Point, Iowa, closed out the match with back-to-back kills to give Nebraska the fourth 25-11 and the match.

Cyclone Notes
*Nebraska out-dug Iowa State 85-to-71 on the match, the first time in 2015 an opponent has recorded more digs than Iowa State.
*Caitlin Nolan finished with 25 digs, her sixth match in 2015 with at least 20 digs and 21st of her career.
*Monique Harris recorded her second-straight double-double, the sixth of her career with 37 assists and 11 digs.
*Ciara Capezio posted her second-straight double-double, fifth of the season and 20th of her career with a team-high 13 kills and 15 digs.
*Branen Berta posted 12 digs, her seventh career match with at least 10 digs.

Up Next
Iowa State is back in Hilton Coliseum next Saturday to begin Big 12 play against Texas Tech. First serve between the Cyclones and Red Raiders will be at 1 p.m.