Volleyball falls at Kansas
Junior right side hitter Mackenzie Bigbee gets blocked by Kansas outside hitter Tiana Dockery (left) and middle blocker Tayler Soucie (right) on Oct. 22.
November 19, 2014
The No. 15 RPI ISU volleyball team saw its late-season winning streak end at four matches on Nov. 19 in Lawrence, Kansas as the Cyclones fell to the No. 16 RPI Kansas Jayhawks in four sets (25-17, 25-23, 20-25, 25-15).
Iowa State (15-10, 7-7 Big 12) came out flat at Horejsi Family Athletics Center, winning just three of the first 12 points against Kansas (20-7, 8-5 Big 12). The Cyclones pulled back to within a point at 11-10, but the Jayhawks weren’t about to concede the lead.
Kansas ripped off a 7-2 run and went on to claim the set comfortably 25-17.
The second set started similarly with the Jayhawks jumping ahead 7-1. This time, however, Iowa State responded differently.
A 10-3 run from the Cyclones gave them their first lead of the night 55 points into the match. Iowa State and Kansas traded blows throughout the stanza, ultimately leading to a late-set tie at 20 apiece.
Much of the ISU resurgence was due to the solid play of middle blocker Tory Knuth, who has seen reduced playing time this year due to an off-season surgery and the emergence of freshman Alexis Conaway. Knuth tallied three kills and two block assists in the set.
Despite Iowa State’s effort to come back and play even most of the way, Kansas emerged from the second set victorious, 25-23.
Just as they improved from set one to set two, the Cyclones stepped up their game in the third frame.
The teams were neck-and-neck through the midpoint, splitting the set’s first 32 points. A kill from ISU hitter Morgan Kuhrt sparked a 6-1 ISU run that gave the Cyclones enough momentum to ride out the set and claim a 25-20 set victory.
In a must-win fourth frame for the Cyclones, they managed to hang around within striking distance, trailing just 13-15 midway through the set. That would prove to be all Iowa State could muster, as Kansas pulled away with a 10-2 run to claim the set and match.
The ISU volleyball team has the weekend off before returning to Hilton Coliseum to host Texas Tech on Nov. 26 and Baylor on Nov. 29 for its final two regular season matches of the 2014-15 campaign.
