Blocking has been a continuous work in progress for Iowa State this season. It’s starting to look like the hard work is paying off. 

The Cyclones combined for 13 total blocks in their 3-0 sweep of Baylor on Saturday. 13 blocks is a season high for Iowa State and is their highest block total for one match since 2009. That came in a five-set victory over Nebraska.

“It’s was good to see our blocking and defense be really dominant,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “We blocked really well and played great defense behind it. I was really excited about our blocking defense.”

Johnson-Lynch felt a key to the success was the moves that the team made during the transitions. She noted that blocking becomes harder when the team is rushed to keep the ball up. The team was able to block and play defense in a way that allowed them to control the pace.

Middle back Tenisha Matlock led the blocking charge with a career-high eight blocks. She also had eight kills and no errors. Matlock accounted for 12 total points and hit .444 on the match.

Senior outside hitter Carly Jenson and freshman outside hitter Hannah Willms also contributed eight blocks each. By the end of the match, there were 10 ISU players who had at least one kill.

Matlock is relatively new to the middle blocker position, but feels like she has made improvements in recent weeks.

“They’ve been running a lot of transition drills for me in practice,” Matlock said. 

The impressive blocking numbers helped Iowa State hold Baylor to a .023 hitting percentage. That is the second-lowest percentage they’ve allowed an opponent so far this season.

Baylor’s struggles also gave Jenson more opportunities to block than usual.

“Sometimes they don’t sit back as much, but their right side seemed like they were sitting more,” Jenson said. “We just focused on hitting the middle, then closing on the right side.”

The victory against Baylor marks the start of another bye week for the Cyclones. This is the second week in a row where they won’t play a mid-week game. 

Their next match is against Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. While some players react differently to rest, Johnson-Lynch feels that it pays off in the long run.

“Some people have trouble getting back in a groove if they have too much time off, but I do think, in the long run, having days off like that will help us,” Johnson-Lynch said.