No. 25 Iowa State Survives Pitt Rally, 3-2

Saturday, September 2

Dayton, Ohio

12:30 PM

Iowa State

5-0

Pittsburgh

1-3

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Pitt	16	19	25	25	19	2
Iowa State	25	25	16	19	21	3

No. 25 Iowa State Survives Pitt Rally, 3-2

09.02.2017 | Volleyball

Box Score Stats

DAYTON, Ohio – No. 25 Iowa State survived a furious Pitt rally, which included fighting off two match points, to defeat the Panthers 3-2 (25-16, 25-19, 16-25, 19-25, 21-19) Saturday afternoon at the Fericks Center. Iowa State's win, which gave the Cyclones the Dayton Invitational title improves ISU to 5-0 on the season, while Pitt is now 1-3.

Iowa State was led by 15 kills at a career-best .737 hitting percentage from Samara West. Jess Schaben recorded a season-best 14 kills, while Hannah Bailey had a career-best 12 kills. Hali Hillegas had a season-best 28 digs, while Piper Mauck had a double-double of 23 assists and 11 digs.

Set One: Iowa State 25 Pittsburgh 16
Both teams demonstrated offensive quality early. Pitt was determined to slow down the ISU middles, giving opportunities to Hannah Bailey and Jess Schaben, who had four a three kills, respectively, to move Iowa State ahead 18-12. The Cyclones manufactured a 6-0 run in that stretch to pull ahead for good in the set. Set point came up at 24-16 when the Panthers fired a shot long, and was put away on the first try when Grace Lazard and Samara West blocked the shot of Stephanie Williams.

Set Two: Iowa State 25 Pittsburgh 19
The Cyclones carried the momentum to set two, running off the first three points. However, the Panthers held tough, as their balanced attack was able to find a few kills and keep ISU within arm's reach. The Cyclones pulled away late, going on a 3-0 run to arrive at set point at 24-19, which was settled on the first try when Williams' shot for Pitt sailed long at 25-19 ISU.

Set Three: Pittsburgh 25 Iowa State 16
Pitt got back into it behind the service line, as they strung together four aces to help build a 16-10 lead. It was a hole that ISU was unable to dig out of, as when the serve and pass was put back together, the Pitt offense began to gain momentum, hitting .258 for the set. Set point arrive at 24-15 for the Panthers, and they extended the match on the second asking when Bailey fired a shot long to make it 25-16 Pitt.

Set Four: Pittsburgh 25 Iowa State 19
After a tight battle early in the frame, Pitt grabbed the momentum with an 8-3 run that made an 8-8 set, a 16-11 Pitt lead. The Cyclones continued to struggle in serve and pass, as the Panthers fired three more aces, as the lead would be at six again at 20-14. Despite the best efforts of Lazard and West, the Cyclones could not prevent the match from going to a fifth set. Set point arrived at 24-17, and though West got consecutive kills, Pitt forced a fifth on a Williams kill at 25-19.

Set Five: Iowa State 21 Pittsburgh 19
Pitt got the first breakthrough in the fifth when Hanna Markewycz's fifth service ace of the day found the back corner to make it 7-5 Panthers. Pitt pushed ahead by three at 10-7 when Layne Van Buskirk put away an ISU overpass. The Cyclones got one point back when Bailey and Lazard combined for a block at 11-10 UP, but Pitt responded with a block of their own to make it 13-10 Panthers. ISU made a huge surge back to tie it at 13-13. Each team survived multiple match points, before ISU finally closed out the match on a Schaben kill, and Lazard and Miranda combining to deny Nika Markovic at 21-19 ISU.

Player of the Game
Samara West. West finished with one of the most efficient hitting nights a Cyclone has ever had. The redshirt senior finished with 15 kills at a .737 hitting percentage, tied for the fifth-best in program history. She also contributed three blocks on the afternoon.

Up Next
The Cyclones are back in action next weekend at the Iowa Invitational at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. ISU will have the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series meeting on Friday at 7 p.m., and will then take on Northern Illinois next Saturday at 1 p.m.