Iowa State broke out of its season-long six-game losing streak with a sweep against Texas Tech Saturday. Junior Faith DeRonde and redshirt sophomore Lilly Wachholz stepped up to get the Cyclones out of the slump.
The last match Iowa State won was in the season’s first meeting against the Red Raiders back on Oct. 18 in Ames. With the win Saturday, Iowa State is now 10-14 overall and 4-9 in the Big 12.
Cyclones offense clicking
Iowa State has struggled on offense recently with the loss of multiple star players, but Saturday was different. The Cyclones had a .307 hitting percentage to propel them to a sweep.
The Cyclones did have 14 attack errors, but attack errors mean that they are being aggressive on offense. This aggressiveness paid off as they had 49 kills to Texas Tech’s 37.
Wachholz and DeRonde led the Cyclones with 12 kills and had over a .230 hitting percentage. Redshirt sophomore Kiersten Schmitt had nine kills at a .381 clip.
Iowa State had five players with over five kills.
Cyclones stray away from errors
Last match, the Cyclones hurt themselves more often than not, tallying 37 errors including 12 service errors. They needed to improve their margins needless to say.
Head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch made it a point of emphasis that they need to be better in that department. She alluded the serves are like free throws, and the Cyclones made their free throws today as they averaged 2.67 aces per set.
Iowa State had eight service aces and only two service errors all game. Wachholz, junior Tierney Jackson and senior Brooke Stonestreet all recorded two aces to lead the way.
Losing streak over with tough road ahead
The elephant in the room has been looming largely over the course of this six-game losing streak.
Going into this final stretch of games, The Cyclones needed to get some momentum against a 13-13 Texas Tech team and got that on Saturday with a sweep.
The most losses in a season for Iowa State under Johnson-Lynch is 15. The Cyclones will need to win three of the final four matches to make sure she doesn’t eclipse that mark.
The Cyclones take on No. 9 Arizona State in their next match, and that will be the biggest hurdle in the final four games. Arizona State is atop the Big 12 with a 14-1 record and 26-2 overall record.
To end the season, Iowa State will face No. 12 Kansas, who is second in the Big 12 with a 22-3 overall record, so the road will not be easy.
Iowa State’s match against Arizona State will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Tempe, Arizona. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
