Offense falters in Iowa State’s 3-1 at Texas Tech

Iowa+State+volleyball+players+talk+with+Head+Coach+Christy+Johnson+Lynch+during+their+match+against+TCU+on+Sept.+24.%C2%A0

Iowa State volleyball players talk with Head Coach Christy Johnson Lynch during their match against TCU on Sept. 24. 

Aaron Hickman

Iowa State was back in action Friday evening, looking to sweep the season series with Texas Tech after a thrilling 3-2 victory on Thursday. A poor offensive showing cancelled out a great defensive performance, and the Red Raiders were able to make more plays to win the match.

The Cyclones gifted the first four points of the first set to the Red Raiders on attacking errors, which forced an early timeout. Much of the set after an Iowa State 5-0 run was back and forth, with Texas Tech getting up to a 17-11 lead.

The Cyclones were able to put together a 3-0 run to trim the deficit to three, but the Red Raiders would immediately respond with a 3-1 run to make the score 20-15 and force an Iowa State timeout. Iowa State came out of the break and put together a much needed 5-2 run, but after a Texas Tech timeout the Red Raiders were able to close out the set 25-22.

Texas Tech outblocked Iowa State 5-1, and they were able to hold the Cyclones to a .132 hitting percentage. Errors were a big part of the first set loss, as Iowa State committed ten.

The second set started out tightly contested, with each team taking turns going on runs. No one could seem to keep a lead for long, as Iowa State and Texas Tech took turns being on top. After the media timeout, with the Red Raiders up 15-14, the Cyclones were able to tie things up at 18 before a Brooke Kanas kill and an Alex Torres service ace forced an Iowa State timeout.

Straight out of the timeout, kills by Holthaus and Herrera and an attacking error by Kenna Sauer provided a 3-0 scoring run that gave the Cyclones a 21-20 lead. After a Texas Tech timeout, Iowa State extended their lead to two before a 3-0 Red Raiders run reclaimed the lead and forced another Iowa State timeout. A KJ Adams service ace and Sauer kill would help Texas Tech claim the set 25-23.

Iowa State still hit poorly, as they only put together a .167 hitting percentage. Texas Tech only hit .109 in the set, but they were still able to come out on top.

Iowa State got off to a hot start in the third set, as Avery Rhodes provided a spark that helped a 4-0 run and 5-0 run get the Cyclones up 14-4. Later on in the set with Iowa State up 19-9, Texas Tech was able to go on a 5-0 run and force an Iowa State timeout. After the timeout, the Red Raiders would extend their run to 9-0 with help from sloppy attacking play by the Cyclones. With the lead cut all the way down to one, a Brooke Andersen kill finally ended the run. Iowa State would hold on for a 25-21 win.

The Cyclones continued their lackluster offensive night in the set, hitting only .056 in the set. Texas Tech managed to hit even worse, with their percentage sitting in negative territory at -.030.

After starting the fourth set with a 4-1 lead, the Cyclones allowed a 5-2 run that tied the score up at six. The two teams exchanged points until a 10-9 Iowa State lead, then a 5-1 run by the Cyclones forced a Texas Tech timeout. The timeout was effective, as the Red Raiders went on a 6-1 run to tie the set back up at 16 and force an Iowa State timeout.

Herrera contributed two blocks that helped the Cyclones go on a quick 3-0 run out of the break, but Texas Tech would respond with a 4-1 run to tie things right back up at 20. The two teams would go back and forth to a 22-22 tie, then a kill by Sauer would put the Red Raiders on top and force an Iowa State timeout. A kill by Madison Gilliland and error by Holthaus would win the set 25-22 and the match 3-1 for Texas Tech.

Herrera and Kenzie Mantz led the Cyclones on the night with 12 kills each. Holthaus was also in double figures with 10 kills, as well as contributing 20 digs for another double-double. Newsome assisted on 44 points, and Marija Popovic led the team with 23 digs. It was a very poor night offensively for Iowa State, as they committed 37 errors and hit at a .119 clip. Texas Tech was able to win the match in spite of committing 36 errors and hitting .098.

Iowa State falls to 12-5 on the season, and 4-2 in conference play. It will be off next week before resuming Big 12 play at home against the Texas Longhorns.