The Cyclones were looking for their second win of the road trip Saturday night, and they got it in a big way, sweeping TCU (25-14, 25-22, 25-23).
Here are three big takeaways from the Cyclones’ victory:
Stars Show Out
The Cyclones’ impressive performance was headlined by Nayeli Gonzalez and Maya Duckworth, which should come as no surprise given their consistent success throughout the season.
The pair each had their second-straight night with double-digit kills. Duckworth led the way for the Cyclones, recording 13 kills while hitting an impressive .407.
Gonzalez wasn’t far behind, totaling 12 kills of her own while hitting .240.
The duo of Duckworth and Gonzalez has impressed all year, and the Cyclones will need them to continue their high-level play as they head down the final stretch of the regular season.
Cyclone Defense Steps up
A big part of Saturday night’s win was the stout performance from the Cyclone defense.
Iowa State held TCU to a hitting percentage of just .163, as TCU was never able to gain momentum on offense.
The leader on the defensive side for Iowa State was Jordan Hopp.
Hopp led the team in blocks, accounting for five out of the Cyclones seven in total. Along with those five blocks, Hopp also recorded six kills and three digs.
Throughout the season Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch has emphasized that playing stronger defense is something that the Cyclones have been working on hard in practice, and Saturday was one of the team’s best defensive performances of the season.
Limiting Errors
A big reason why the Cyclones were able to stay in control for seemingly the entire match was that they didn’t beat themselves with unforced errors. The Cyclones only committed 14 total errors compared to TCU’s 20.
Most notably the Cyclones only committed six service errors throughout the match, and at some points during the season, serving has been an area where they need to improve.
If the Cyclones can keep playing clean and limiting errors, they should be in good shape going down the stretch.
The Cyclones return home at 6:30 p.m. Friday for the first match of a back-to-back against No. 14 Kansas.
