The ISU volleyball team showed what they were made of at their home tournament, taking first place by defeating Iowa, Drake and Xavier. Iowa State swept all three games.

In the team’s opening game, the Cyclones took it to Iowa and defeated them 3-0 (28-26, 27-25, 26-24). Although Iowa State won three sets in a row, they didn’t come easily. All three sets went over 25 points as the two teams fought down to the wire. Rachel Hockaday, Mary Bisenius and Jen Malcom each had a dozen kills.

“Everyone was on this weekend,” said coach Christy Johnson. “It’s nice when you have all five hitters firing away.”  

Kaylee Manns was  successful moving the ball around against the Hawkeyes by spreading out the attacks to various players. Manns contributed 44 of the 55 assists for the Cyclones.

Iowa State outnumbered Iowa not only in assists, but also in kills and attacking percentage with 53 kills to Iowa’s 40 and a hitting percentage of 0.250 as a team compared to the Hawkeye’s 0.236 team average.

The Cyclones notched another victory on Saturday morning over the Drake Bulldogs. Iowa State’s attacking percentage was a strong 0.357 while Drake had just a 0.029 percentage. Each set was a solid win for the Cyclones who swept the Bulldogs (25-10, 25-13, 25-15).

Victoria Henson contributed 10 of Iowa State’s 42 kills, while Malcom put down seven. Malcom was seven for 13 against the Bulldogs with no errors on her attacks.

Ashley Mass was all over the court against the Bulldogs. Mass racked up 24 digs for a record-breaking night as she broke the school record for most digs in a three set match previously held by teammate, Kaylee Manns.

In their final game of the tournament Iowa State came up with another sweep of 3-0 over Xavier (25-18, 25-17, 25-16). As a team, Iowa State’s hitting percentage was a solid 0.394. Hockaday and sophomore Victoria Henson added 11 kills each. Hockaday came away with a hitting percentage of 0.688 against the Bulldogs and had no hitting errors.

“Rachel has the confidence to become a top hitter,” said teammate Mary Bisenius.

Bisenius led the team with 12 kills and had an attacking percentage of 0.526. She was named MVP of the tournament. This is the second year Bisenius has received the award in a tournament with both Drake and Iowa as opponents.

“It really brings up my confidence since I was struggling early in the season,” said Bisenius.

Amy Vos was back on the court this weekend after sitting out from a shoulder injury and made a big difference with her experience.

“Good passing opens everything up and makes it easier for hitting,” said coach Christy Johnson. “Having Vos out there brings a lot of experience, and when you pass well you really have a nice rhythm.”

Iowa State’s offense dominated all weekend as the team always found a way to put the ball down and get past blockers. As a team the Cyclones averaged a 0.334 hitting percentage throughout the tournament. 

Iowa State dominated the competition over the weekend by sweeping all three teams they played.

“It’s nice to end with a solid weekend like this before going into Big 12 play,” said Johnson.

Cyclone all-tournament team members were Hockaday, Henson and Mass.