ISU Downs Omaha, Moves to 7-0

OMAHA, Nebraska – Iowa State (7-0, 0-0 Big 12) took the victory over Omaha (0-7, 0-0 Summit) in four sets (25-16, 25-23, 21-25, 25-15) Saturday night to remain undefeated.

ISU came back after losing the third set to finalize a hitting percentage of .227 through the night while holding the Mavericks to .090. Omaha is the fifth opponent Iowa State has held under .100 this season.

Two Cyclones passed milestones as sophomore setter Morgan Brandt passed 800 career assists and libero Stonestreet broke over 700 career digs, with Brandt totaling 37 assists and Stonestreet 19 digs. Brandt notched her fifth double-double of the season while extending her streak to three with a stat line of 37 assists, 11 digs, three kills and a block.

Maya Duckworth was the lone Cyclone in double figures, hitting 13 to go along with three blocks and three digs. Defensively, Pam McCune led with eight blocks (two solo, six assists) while tallying five kills at .455 hitting. Kiersten Schmitt had a career-high six block assists.

Servers sent across 10 aces, led by Nayeli Gonzalez with three who notched all in the fourth set. The total makes for the 19^th match under Christy Johnson-Lynch to serve to 10 or more.

SET ONE

Iowa State started fast, taking the first six points before Omaha got on the board. Duckworth would get her third kill on just five attempts to make the score 12-6, while Omaha followed to come back within four (13-9). Duckworth found the floor again to jump ahead 21-14, as ISU continued to roll and take the set 25-16.

SET TWO

Schmitt began the set with two kills to put the Cyclones up 3-2 and followed to put down two more as the Cyclones held the slight advantage of 11-10. Omaha then took the next three to take a lead of 13-11. The teams kept close to each other from there, and Iowa State would retake the lead at 19-18 after kills by Duckworth, Brandt and Schmitt. The Cyclones held the lead from there as Annie Hatch ended the set with a kill at 25-23.

SET THREE

UNO held the advantage of 5-1 to cause an ISU timeout as the third frame kicked off. The lead stretched to double digits at 15-5 as ISU had three-straight attack errors, while the Mavericks reached 20 points with the Cyclones holding nine. Iowa State battled on, taking a 7-1 scoring run to come within five (21-16). ISU fought off four set points, but Omaha pressed on to extend the match with a set score of 25-21 while holding the Cyclones to -.033 hitting through the set.

SET FOUR
Iowa State took on the fourth never giving up the lead, beginning with three Gonzalez kills to put the visitors ahead 6-4. Gonzalez then served up two-straight aces while Duckworth totaled over 10 kills to make it 10-6. Gonzalez tallied her third ace before Duckworth brought ISU to 20 points with her 12^th kill. Iowa State would end the match holding UNO to 15 points on Gonzalez' fifth kill of the set.

NEXT UP

Iowa State wraps up the Omaha Challenge with No. 16 Creighton tomorrow, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m.

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Team Stats

Maya Duckworth

Kiersten Schmitt

Jordan Hopp

Nayeli Gonzalez

Players Mentioned

Morgan Brandt

Maya Duckworth

Nayeli Gonzalez

Annie Hatch

Pam McCune

Kiersten Schmitt

Players Mentioned

Morgan Brandt

Maya Duckworth

Nayeli Gonzalez

Annie Hatch

Pam McCune

Kiersten Schmitt

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics