Cyclones sweep Mississippi, win Panther Invitational

Matt Gubbels

The ISU volleyball team did a 180 from its performance in a five-set loss to UW-Milwaukee Friday night and swept the Ole Miss Rebels (2-1) on Saturday afternoon (25-11, 25-17, 25-19).

That victory gave the 18th-ranked Cyclones the championship in the Panther Invitational, which was held on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Middle blocker Jen Malcom was named the tournament MVP and setter Kaylee Manns and outside hitter Victoria Henson were also named to the all-tournament team.

Malcom and freshman Rachel Hockaday each had 12 kills against Mississippi and hit .550 and .478, respectively. Those hitting percentages contributed to a .333 to .049 advantage in hitting percentage for Iowa State, along with a 12.5 to two advantage in blocks.

Manns picked up her third straight double-double with 38 assists and 12 digs and libero Ashley Mass extended her 29-match double-digit digs streak with 10 digs.

The Cyclones jumped out to a 14-6 lead in the first set and carried that to an opening win. Iowa State was down 11-10 in set number two before going on a 7-1 run late. The Cyclones carried a 12-5 lead to a third set win, which was the closest of the three sets.

Iowa State returns to the court Tuesday at Creighton at 7 p.m.