VOLLEYBALL: Women reciprocate sweep

ISU outside hitter Victoria Henson makes an attack on the ball during Iowa State’s loss to Nebraska. Henson led the Cyclones with 15 kills Wednesday night against Texas A&M. File photo: Manfred Brugger/Iowa State Daily

Manfred Brugger

ISU outside hitter Victoria Henson makes an attack on the ball during Iowa State’s loss to Nebraska. Henson led the Cyclones with 15 kills Wednesday night against Texas A&M. File photo: Manfred Brugger/Iowa State Daily

Shane Lucas —

After being swept at home by Nebraska, the ISU volleyball team traveled to Texas A&M to give the Aggies the same feeling.

The No. 8 Cyclones (21–4, 13–3 Big 12) defeated the Aggies (14–9, 7–8) in straight sets (25–22, 25–22, 31–29) for their school-record 13th Big 12 win Wednesday night in College Station, Texas.

The match followed a pattern that was similar to the first meeting between the teams as each set was close from beginning to end. Ultimately, the Cyclones showed their superiority at the net, out-blocking the Aggies 11–4 as well as out-hitting them .253 to .157.

“I feel like that was a true team effort tonight,” ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said in a news release.

A 5–0 run by A&M put the Cyclones at an early disadvantage in the first set. However, the Cyclones were able to battle back, eventually tying the set at 20 after trailing since the 6–6 mark. Late kills by outside hitters Victoria Henson and Rachel Hockaday gave the Cyclones the win. Henson hit .800 in the set while Iowa State hit .395 as a team.

The second set saw Iowa State dominate at the net, outblocking A&M 6–2. Henson and freshman middle blocker Jamie Straube set the tone early. Straube recorded two solo blocks in the first six points of the set and ended up with a career-high total of three.

After jumping out to an early 5–1 lead, the Cyclones let the Aggies back in with a 4–0 run.

Henson was completely shut down by the Aggie defense, allowing Straube and Hockaday to step in with five kills each in the set.

Iowa State let two leads of at least three points slip away down the stretch. Sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Peterson sparked the offense with two kills during a late run.

Following an ISU timeout, both teams rattled off two straight points. However, a 3–0 run, consisting of a Hockaday kill and service ace and a kill by sophomore middle blocker Debbie Stadick, won the set for the Cyclones.

In the third set, Iowa State once again struggled with putting the Aggies away. Henson was able to get going offensively, recording her first kill since the first set at the 5–3 mark. Henson finished the set with seven kills.

The Aggies grabbed their first lead of the set at 21–22 and kept that momentum to go up 22–24. Back-to-back kills by senior setter Kaylee Manns and Henson, though, would put the Cyclones back in a tie at 24–24.

Two straight kills from Stadick gave Iowa State a 29–28 lead. Following sophomore defensive specialist Caitlin Mahoney’s second service error of the match, kills by Hockaday and Henson finished the sweep for the Cyclones.

Texas A&M’s balanced offensive attack was led by senior outside hitter Sarah Ammerman, who recorded a match-high 18 kills. Defensively, five Aggies were in double-digits for digs, including senior outside hitter Mary Batis’s team-high 18.

Henson and Hockaday recorded double-doubles of 15 kills and 12 digs and 12 kills and 18 digs. Junior libero Ashley Mass recorded a game-high 20 digs and the senior setter Manns led the match with 42 assists.