Iowa State Loses in Four to No. 21 Penn State

BATON ROUGE, La. – Iowa State (1-3) lost to No. 21 Penn State (4-0) in four sets, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-25. Three Cyclones hit over 10 kills in the loss to the unbeaten Nittany Lions.

Mariah Mitchell led in kills with 13, while Jordan Hopp and Eleanor Holthaus both added 12. Hopp hit at a career-high efficiency of .409 on 22 attempts.

Setter Jaden Newsome dialed in her third double-double of the season, stretching her streak to two consecutive games as she ended with 40 assists and 12 digs. Newsome also notched a career milestone as she sent her 200^th career kill over the net and totaled four kills on seven attempts for a .571 efficiency.

Joining Newsome in double-digit digs was libero Brooke Stonestreet who contributed a team-leading 14 digs in addition to 4 kills.

SET ONE

The Cyclones and Nittany Lions traded points early in the first frame before Iowa State jumped out to a lead of 7-4 on a Newsome ace. ISU kept the momentum going on a 4-0 scoring run to lead 12-8 to force a Penn State timeout. The lead stayed with the Cyclones until an Iowa State attack error gave PSU a 20-19 lead. The advantage between both teams stayed within two points before a kill by Penn State's Katie Clark gave the Nittany Lions the first set win. Hopp hit four kills efficiently at .667 while Holthaus also dialed in four kills.

SET TWO

Iowa State took the first three points of the set and kept control as they built a lead up to nine points as setter Newsome brought in her 200^th career kill. Penn State battled back as Iowa State held the lead by one at 23-22. The Cyclones kept on PSU to take the second set by a score of 25-22 after a Penn State attack error. Iowa State out-hit Penn State .550-.371 in the frame.

SET THREE

Iowa State again took the first points of the frame behind kills by Hopp and Holthaus. Ties broke out at 4s, 5s and 6s to keep the action. Holthaus' 10^th kill of the game tied it back up at 10-10 and extended her streak to six games with double-digit kills. Mariah Mitchell joined Holthaus in double digits as her efficiency stood at .316 to see another tie at 17 apiece. Mitchell's streak also extended, with her third-consecutive game of over 10 kills. Both teams kept an even attack before a PSU kill sealed the set and the match advantage at 2-1.

SET FOUR

The consistent battle continued as Iowa State kept within one until a 3-0 Penn State scoring run led to an Iowa State timeout early in the fourth at 10-6. Two straight aces brought Penn State to their largest lead of nine points as the Nittany Lions stood four points from taking the match. The Cyclones didn't let up as they extended the game on kills by Mitchell and Solei Thomas before Penn State pulled away with the win.

NEXT UP

The Cyclones return to the court tonight at 7:30 p.m. to meet the tournament host LSU. The match will be streamed by SEC Network+ on ESPN+.

Players Mentioned

Eleanor Holthaus

Jordan Hopp

Mariah Mitchell

Jaden Newsome

Brooke Stonestreet

Solei Thomas