Completed Event: Volleyball versus Loyola on August 28, 2026 , Win , 3, to, 0
Final
Volleyball
3
Loyola
0
Iowa State University Athletics
Sunday, August 30
Ames, Iowa
2:00 PM
Iowa State
2-1,0-0Big 12
3
vs
1
UNI
1-2,0-0MVC
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNI | 18 | 18 | 25 | 34 | 1 |
| Iowa St. | 25 | 25 | 21 | 36 | 3 |
Cyclones Down UNI in Four-Set Thriller
08.30.2026 | Volleyball
AMES, Iowa – Iowa State moved to 2-1 on the season as it took down UNI in front of a crowd of 3,207 in Hilton Coliseum on Sunday, 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 21-25, 36-34).
ISU hit .324 on the day to UNI's .171, led by a combined 48 kills from Nayeli Gonzalez (26) and Nayelia Ti'a (22). It marked Gonzalez's fifth career match with 20-plus kills and Ti'a's fourth. Gonzalez also hit over .400 in the match, finishing with 26 winners against just six errors on 49 attempts.
Rachel Van Gorp had a match-high 27 digs while Ava Martin finished with a double-double on a career-high 54 assists and 10 digs. Freshman Macy Lupkes was a strong presence at the net with seven blocks.
SET ONE
Iowa State opened the match scoring six of the first eight points to force a UNI timeout. The Cyclones also had a 4-1 run with two kills from Ti'a, a successful setter dump from Martin and a service ace from Van Gorp. Another three kills from Ti'a and an Abbi Brenizer ace sealed the first set, 25-18, for ISU.
SET TWO
Gonzalez heated up in the second set, finishing with eight of Iowa State's 14 kills in the set. Gonzalez and Ti'a scored four of ISU's final five points in the second frame, leading the match with 12 and 11 kills, respectively, at the time. The Cyclones hit .294 in the second set but limited the Panthers to just a .065 clip.
SET THREE
The Panthers jumped out to an early lead but were never able to pull too far ahead of ISU in the third set. The Cyclones were able to trim the deficit to one point six times and even managed a tie late at 21-21, but UNI rattled off four-straight points to take the set, 25-21, and force a fourth.
SET FOUR
The decisive fourth set featured 20 tie scores and seven lead changes. UNI held a brief 2-0 lead, but kills from Lilly Wachholz and Gonzalez evened the score early. Iowa State took a 4-3 lead following finishes from Lupkes and Gonzalez, but the Panthers answered with three winners of their own. The two sides continued to trade points until a kill by Ti'a and a Panther error helped the Cyclones to a 13-10 lead, forcing the UNI timeout. ISU held the largest lead of the set at 18-14 by way of a 3-1 run highlighted by kills from Gonzalez and Ti'a and a Van Gorp service ace. UNI responded with a run of their own to take a 22-18 lead, but a Lupkes kill sandwiched by Panther errors tied the match again at 22. The Panthers had set point following a Ti'a attack error, but she rallied back and terminated the next ball and UNI erred the following point to force extra points with the set tied at 24-24. Down the final stretch in the marathon set, Gonzalez had six kills and no errors. Ti'a had two winners, including the deciding match point, barely grazing Panther fingertips on an ISU challenge call that was eventually deemed successful, finally securing the 36-34 set win.
UP NEXT
The Cyclones travel to Santa Barbara for the UCSB Tournament, facing UCSB on Thursday, Sept. 3. First serve is set for 8 pm on ESPN+.
Players Mentioned
MB/RS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
L
/ Volleyball
RS
/ VolleyballTeam Stats
UNI
IowaSt
Kills
53
66
Errors
25
20
Attempts
164
142
Hitting %
.171
.324
Points
65.0
81.0
Assists
46
60
Aces
4
6
Blocks
8
9
Game Leaders
Kills
26
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
22
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Sunday, August 30
Sunday, August 30
Friday, August 28
Monday, December 01
