No. 18 ISU Battles to Four-Set Win over Oklahoma

Saturday, September 23

Ames, Iowa

4:00 PM

Iowa State

10-1, 1-0

Oklahoma

3-11, 0-2

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Oklahoma	31	15	23	22	1
Iowa State	29	25	25	25	3

No. 18 ISU Battles to Four-Set Win over Oklahoma

09.23.2017 | Volleyball

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AMES, Iowa – No. 18 Iowa State opened the Big 12 portion of the schedule with a scrappy 3-1 (29-31, 25-15, 25-23, 25-22) win over Oklahoma Saturday afternoon at Hilton Coliseum. The win improved the Cyclones to 10-1 overall, 1-0 in Big 12 play. OU falls to 3-11 on the year, and 0-2 in league competition.

The Cyclones needed to step up its offensive production against the Sooners, and was led by a career-best 18 kills from Samara West, while Jess Schaben tied a season-high with 17 kills. Alexis Conaway (12) and Grace Lazard (11) were also in double figures. Monique Harris finished with a double-double of 50 assists and 13 digs, while Hali Hillegas had her fourth-straight match over 20 digs with 25. Izzy Enna posted a career-best 11 digs in the win. Up front, Avery Rhodes led ISU with seven blocks, while Schaben kicked in six.

Set One: Oklahoma 31 Iowa State 29
The Cyclones broke open a tight set with a 7-1 run that included a Jess Schaben ace that opened up ISU's lead to 15-9. The Sooners battled back, going on an 8-1 run themselves to get back ahead at 18-17. The two teams kept battling, but OU got to set point first at 24-23, but were denied on its first five attempts to close out the set. ISU finally got a set point chance at 29-28 with a three-player block, but OU continued the set with a kill. On their sixth effort at set point, the Sooners finally put it away with a kill by Alyssa Enneking at 31-29.

Set Two: Iowa State 25 Oklahoma 15
OU carried their momentum into the second set, running out to a 9-6 advantage to begin the frame. ISU quickly erased that deficit, with the block stepping up to knot it back up at 9-9. ISU followed that up with a 9-0 run to build up a comfortable 18-10 advantage. The Cyclones rode that to set point at 24-15 on an Alexis Conaway kill, and evened up the match when Madison Drescher fired wide at 25-15 Cyclones.

Set Three: Iowa State 25 Oklahoma 23
A scrappy encounter ensued in the third set, as both teams kept the other from pulling ahead via the attack. The Cyclone offense was able to piece together a 4-0 run to get some breathing room at 19-15. The ISU block had a strong set, recording 5.5 blocks to help hold OU to a .225 hitting percentage for the frame. ISU got to set point at 24-21, and put it away on the third asking when Schaben tipped over the block for a kill at 25-23.

Set Four: Iowa State 25 Oklahoma 22
The Cyclones fought their way back ahead halfway through the set with a 6-1 run that up an 11-10 advantage to 17-11. The ISU back-row defense was stout, but the Sooners continued to chip away at the Iowa State lead and eventually went on a 3-0 run to tie it back up at 21-21. The Cyclones were able to scrap their way to a match point at 24-22 on Samara West's 18th kill, and got it on first asking when Enneking fired wide.

Player of the Game
Samara West. The redshirt senior had one of the most productive nights of her ISU career, recording a career-best 18 kills at a .371 hitting percentage. On defense, she helped ISU with four block assists.

Up Next
Iowa State hits the road on Wednesday, when they travel to Lawrence to take on No. 12 Kansas. First serve between the Cyclones and Jayhawks will be at 6:30 p.m., with ESPN3 showing the match via Jayhawk TV.