Iowa State Sweeps Loyola to Start Season

Friday, August 28

Ames, Iowa

6:30 PM

Iowa State

1-0,0-0Big 12

Loyola

0-1,0-0Atlantic 10

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Loyola Chicago	12	20	22	0
Iowa St.	25	25	25	3

Photo by: LUKE LU @KL6PHOTO

Iowa State Sweeps Loyola to Start Season

08.28.2026 | Volleyball

Box Score Stats Highlights Photo Gallery

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State opened its 22^nd season under head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch with a sweep over Loyola, 3-0 (25-12, 25-20, 25-22), Friday night inside Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State hit .277 in the match against Loyola's .117 mark and the Cyclones slotted home eight service aces. ISU finished the evening with nine blocks, including a team-best six from freshman D'Aaliyah Kemp.

The Cyclones were led offensively by Nayeli Ti'a who recorded 10 kills on .333 hitting and an ace while finishing a dig shy of a double-double. Lilly Wachholz added nine kills with five blocks while Alea Goolsby posted seven kills and seven digs.

Star libero Rachel Van Gorp tallied a team-high 13 digs and an ace while setter Ava Martin had 33 assists to go along with a pair of aces.

Nayeli Gonzalez returned from a lengthy injury rehab to appear in her first match since Oct. 9, 2024 at Houston. She logged four kills on five attempts (.800 pct) in her first action in 688 days.

Leyna Nguyen led Loyola with nine kills while Mallory Bohl added nine. Emma Henry tallied 13 assists and Jae Fitting recorded nine digs on the night.

SET ONE
The opening set was all Cyclones. ISU jumped out to a 7-3 lead to force an early Loyola timeout. A kill from Ti'a pushed the Cyclone advantage to 23-10 before the home team closed out the set, 25-12. Iowa State had four service aces in the set - one each from Van Gorp, Martin, Gonzalez and Macie Lupkes.

SET TWO
Things were tight between the Cyclones and Ramblers early in the second set with ISU leading 10-9 before eventually separating to a 15-10 advantage at the media timeout. A Ti'a kill put Iowa State out front, 20-15, but Loyola rattled off a 4-0 run to pull within 20-19 to prompt an ISU timeout. Iowa State responded out of the timeout, and consecutive kills by Mesaiya Bettis and Lupkes put the Cyclones within striking distance at 23-20. Following a Loyola timeout, back-to-back kills from Goolsby put the set away, 25-20.

SET THREE
It was back-and-forth to begin the third set with ties at 2-2, 4-4, 5-5 and 6-6 before Iowa State managed to pull ahead. Abbi Brenizer's ace propelled the Cyclones into the media timeout ahead, 15-12. Kemp and Wachholz teamed up for a block to put ISU in front by five, 20-15. Iowa State led by as much as 23-15 before a 4-0 run by the Ramblers cut the lead to 23-19. Loyola made things interesting when it pulled within 24-22, but a Goolsby kill completed the sweep for the Cyclones.

NEXT UP
Iowa State is back in action Saturday at 4 p.m. against Georgia Tech. That match will be shown live on ESPN+.