AMES – Iowa State won its seventh match of the season against Omaha on Sunday, closing out the Cyclone Invitational. The Cyclones won sets of 25-14, 25-22, 19-25 and 25-21, marking Iowa State’s first sweep over the Mavericks since 2021.
Cyclones win first four-set match of the season
Iowa State’s 25-21 fourth-set victory was its first of the season, only the second matchup of the non-conference slate to go the distance. The Cyclones lost their last four-set matchup against Northern Iowa 3-1 on Sept. 9.
“We knew going in that Omaha was a huge blocking team,” Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. “Matching up against a team that big, I thought we handled a good majority of situations well.”
Set four opened on an 8-0 scoring run, Iowa State’s longest of the season.
“I thought we had a much better quality on touches throughout the match,” Johnson-Lynch said. “This was one that you kind of just had to tough out, and we took care of business.”
Brandt sets a new season-high on assists
Senior setter Morgan Brandt finished the match with 48 assists, her highest of the season. Brandt assisted on 16 points in the first set, her second-highest assists per set ratio of the 2025 campaign.
“It’s always a team effort all the way around,” Brandt said. “Our focus was on covering and defense and I think we did that today.”
Brandt recorded a season-high 44 assists against Milwaukee, topping performances of 37 against Bucknell and Central Michigan.
The setter’s performance against Omaha was her second match with 45 or more assists going back to Oct. 9 last season, when she had 45 against the Houston Cougars.
Brandt’s assist total is her highest since 2023’s matchup against Cincinnati. She recorded 16 assists in the first and 15 in the fourth, both greater than her 11.21 assists per set ratio this season.
“[Brandt] is never shy about putting a good ball up there for us,” redshirt junior right side Lilly Wachholz said after game one against Saint Louis. “She shows her full potential each and every day.”
Kills, kills, kills.
Freshman outside hitter Alea Goolsby had 24 kills during the four sets of the Cyclones’ victory over Omaha. Goolsby’s 24 kills were the most by a Cyclone in a match since 2023, when Nayeli Gonzalez recorded 24 in a five-set match against Baylor.
“[Brandt] gives me the best sets every time we’re out there,” Goolsby said. “We knew that we had to come out with confidence and we trusted each other to go out there and play hard.”
Goolsby led the team in kills, followed by senior outside hitter Maya Duckworth with 13 and Wachholz with nine. The Iowa State reserves combined for five kills.
“I liked our play off the bench,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We’ve got a lot of strong hitters who are not shy when their number gets called.”
Goolsby’s previous season high came when the Cyclones played against South Alabama. Goolsby recorded 13 kills in the Cyclones’ sweep against the Jaguars.
Sophomore libero Rachel Van Gorp added 23 digs to her total after the match against Omaha, 13 more than Friday’s match against Saint Louis. Van Gorp’s total currently leads the team.
“I thought we definitely played harder,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Points today were much harder to come by, and she really stepped up.”
Up next
The Cyclones take on Iowa in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The matchup streams live on BIG+.
