ISU volleyball drops first match of season in one-sided loss to San Diego

Hayley Hochstetler/Iowa State Daily

Sophomore setter Jenelle Hudson serves the ball during the game against Northern Iowa on Wednesday, Sept. 4, in Cedar Falls. Hudson had 57 assists for the Cyclones, who defeated the Panthers 3-2 to give the Cyclones a 4-0 record. 

Dan Cole

After starting the season 4-0, the No. 11 ranked ISU volleyball team was handed its first loss of the season Friday night in a one-sided match against No. 14 San Diego at Hilton Coliseum.

The Toreros (3-1), who broke into the top-25 after their performance in Hawaii last weekend, prevailed 3-1 on Friday and were superior to the Cyclones (4-1) in almost all statistical categories.

The first two sets were won 25-17 by San Diego, due largely to USD outside hitter Taylor Hollins, who had 11 kills through those two sets and finished the night with 15.

ISU freshman outside hitter Ciara Capezio and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Tory Knuth were the Cyclones’ top threats offensively for much of the match, tallying 11 kills apiece. Responsible for setting them up was sophomore setter Jenelle Hudson who assisted on a match-high 35 of the Cyclones’ 44 kills.

ISU libero Kristen Hahn, who was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for the 13th time in her career, ended the night with 16 digs, second-best in the match to USD libero C’era Oliveira’s 17.

The Cyclones’ next match is at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon against No. 18 Illinois at Hilton Coliseum.