CEDAR FALLS – Iowa State lost its first matchup of the season to Northern Iowa on Tuesday, falling 3-1 for the second consecutive meeting.
The Cyclones dropped the first set 25-20, rallied the second 28-26 and gave up the third and fourth 25-19. Iowa State was out-hit, .403-.280, by the Panthers.
“It’s never easy against a team like them,” Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. “I thought this was a great learning experience for us. They showed us what we have to get better at.”
Iowa State’s 28-26 second-set victory is the longest set victory by the Cyclones this season.
“I thought we started setting our middles better,” Johnson-Lynch said. “When we involve the middles and our digs are spot on, we really get going.”
Iowa State recorded eight aces against the Panthers, three of which came from sophomore libero Rachel Van Gorp. Van Gorp led the Cyclones with 13 digs, her 13th match as a Cyclone with 10 or more.
“There were lots of positives and a number of things that we did well,” Johnson-Lynch said.
Three Cyclones ended the matchup with 10 or more kills. Senior outside hitter Maya Duckworth and right side redshirt junior Lilly Wachholz had 12 and senior middle blocker Tierney Jackson ended the night with 10.
“We tried to play our game at the end of the day,” Jackson said. “Sometimes, though, things just don’t fall into your hands.”
Iowa State rallied the second set from down 17-13 to 19-18 before evening the score 1-1 after an ace from junior middle blocker Pam McCune and an ace from Duckworth.
“[McCune] is someone that can fly,” Johnson-Lynch said. “She’s a great athlete, loves to compete and she’s hard to stop.”
Iowa State fell behind in the third set 13-8, losing momentum as the Panthers gained an 18-10 lead. Duckworth’s tenth kill of the night stopped Northern Iowa’s run before the Cyclones dropped the set.
“We got a little intimidated,” Johnson-Lynch said. “[Northern Iowa] played exactly the way they needed to, scouted us really well and we’ll learn from it and move forward.”
Wachholz scored two kills and a block to tie the Panthers at 11 in the middle of the fourth. Northern Iowa jumped out to a 17-13 lead before ending the night 3-1.
Iowa State returns to Hilton Coliseum for a matchup against Saint Louis at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
