Iowa State takes risk, achieves reward with a win over North Dakota

Garrett Kroeger
October 30, 2017

It may not have been the prettiest of sweeps, but a win’s a win.

On Monday night at Hilton Coliseum, the No. 19 Iowa State volleyball team held a late season non-conference game against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks and would win in three sets (25-16, 25-14, 25-17).

However, after only two days removed from upsetting then-No. 11 Kansas and on a day’s worth of rest, Iowa State started sluggish against North Dakota. Every attempt that the Cyclones made at a point didn’t have the zip that fans were accustomed to and they just seemed out of position.

“I knew this [match] would be a real challenge for [Iowa State],” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “Mentally, spent a lot of energy on Saturday and trying to turn around, not much preparation. We had some players that were tired. I really felt like this could be a big challenge for us.”

Although the score won’t show it, Johnson-Lynch didn’t feel like the Cyclones were in complete control of that match until late in each set.

In the first set, outside hitter Jess Schaben was the player who sparked Iowa State’s dominance. She powered kill after kill on her way to four in the first. However, it was her two service aces in set one, which tied a career high, that helped the Cyclones get into control. Once Iowa State went ahead 11-10 in set one, it never looked back.

While the Cyclones caught fire as the first set wore on, they started off a little sluggish in the second set too. The two teams traded point after point. At one moment in the match, Iowa State saw itself trailing North Dakota, 10-8. But just like the first, the Cyclones regained control after eclipsing the 10-point marker.

“I think once we started siding out and then pushing three or four points in row, we kind of broke the game open” Schaben said. “I think once we got past the first 10 points, we really just took over.”

Unlike set one and two, Iowa State asserted its dominance throughout the third and final set.

Although the sluggish start was the main concern for the Cyclones, it may have overshadowed libero Hali Hillegas’ performance against the Fighting Hawks. During Johnson-Lynch’s post game press conference, she had no words to describe Hillegas’ outing except for saying it was crazy good.

On the night, Hillegas tallied 28 digs. That gave her an average of 9.3 digs per set. In the final set, Hillegas tallied three digs in a span of five seconds in one rally, including recording a dig with her foot. Even though Iowa State didn’t score off that rally, it was still an impressive sight to see.

“I mean, it’s just hustle,” Hillegas said on the three digs in five second rally. “Just going out there, hustling after the balls, which is what my team expects me to do, and I rally on them to do different things too. I mean, I was just laying there and I saw the ball coming. I really didn’t know what to do, so I stuck a foot out there and hoping for the best. I think it was knowing that we just need to be relentless and not let anything drop.”

Facing North Dakota was a risky move for Iowa State. It’s not like the Fighting Hawks are bad. They are 24-6 on the season. But the Iowa State grinded the victory out and Johnson-Lynch was pleased with that.

“You take a little bit of a risk,” Johnson-Lynch said. “You take the risk of turning around Monday, being sluggish and losing to a good team. There’s a risk in that but I thought the reward could be playing a good team and getting another opportunity to get better.”