Iowa State Sweeps Villanova

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Villanova	24	18	23	0
Iowa St.	26	25	25	3

Villanova

Iowa St.

WASHINGTON – Iowa State (5-2, 0-0 Big 12) swept Villanova (5-3, 0-0 Big East) Friday afternoon by set scores of 26-24, 25-18, 25-23 to begin the American Tournament.

After an extended first set with the Cyclones coming out on top, ISU commanded the second outhitting Villanova .423-.207 to head to the third with a 2-0 match lead. The Cyclones took the lead in the third at 7-6 and never looked back to secure the straight-set victory.

Rachel Van Gorp led all with 12 digs in the three set to now hold 990 on the libero's career. Van Gorp also had five assists and an ace.

Nayeli Gonzalez went out to her third 10-plus kill match this season, leading the match with 10. Gonzalez hit her total at .304, while Pam McCune joined hitting over .300 with 10 or more attempts. McCune hit an errorless eight kills at .444.

The Cyclones had eight total blocks (1 solo, 14 assists) through the three sets, led by freshman Macie Lupkes with six block assists.

SET ONE

The duo of Gonzalez and Nayeli Ti'a each registered two early kills as the score stood at 5-5. Iowa State would reach 10 on Alea Goolsby's third kill, while Goolsby put the scoreboard at 12-10 with ISU in front with an ace. Mesaiya Bettis then put down three kills in a span of six rallies, and the Cyclones pressed on building a lead of as much as eight (21-13). The Wildcats kept with it fighting off set point six times, but the Cyclones came out with the set win of 26-24 after a Villanova attack error.

SET TWO

Iowa State reached 10 with Villanova at 5 after freshman Macie Lupkes put down a kill. Both teams continued hitting over .300 in the match as the set was brought to the media timeout with the Cyclones leading 15-10. Bettis remained perfect as she totaled her fourth kill and from there ISU remained in control winning the set 24-18.

SET THREE
Abbi Brenizer served ISU's fifth ace of the match to knot the score at 6s, and a block by Lupkes and Bettis came next to flip the lead. A long rally broke out, with Pam McCune putting an end to it with her sixth kill at a clip of .400 to bring ISU up 10-7. Villanova remained within three of the Cyclones' lead, and came back to make the score 18-18. Three ties followed before a Cyclone kill and block put ISU up 23-21 to cause a Villanova timeout. Another block and kill would seal the sweep at 25-23.

Next up

Iowa State plays host American tomorrow at noon CT to close the week. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.

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Players Mentioned

Mesaiya Bettis

Abbi Brenizer

Nayeli Gonzalez

Alea Goolsby

Macie Lupkes

Pam McCune

Nayeli Ti'a

Rachel Van Gorp

Team Stats

Gonzalez Nayeli

Goolsby Alea

Ti'a Nayeli

McCune Pam

Sponsors

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