MATCH STATS
- No. 23 Iowa State def. No. 9 Kansas
- Iowa State moves to 16-4, 7-3 Big 12; Kansas falls to 19-4, 8-2 Big 12
- Ames, Iowa
- Attendance:
- Box Score
AMES, Iowa – Junior outside hitter Jess Schaben and senior middle blocker Alexis Conaway turned in double-doubles and redshirt senior right side hitter Samara West added a match-high 19 kills as No. 23 Iowa State upset No. 9 Kansas on Saturday night.
The Cyclones bested the Jayhawks in hitting percentage (.250 to .186), kills (62-51), aces (5-2) and blocks (9-5). Kansas won the battle in the backcourt with 86 digs to ISU’s 82.
West led the way for Iowa State with 19 kills on a team-best .471 hitting effort. Schaben followed with 18 kills and 19 digs, while Conaway chipped in 16 kils and 13 digs. Junior middle Grace Lazard notched six kills and a team-leading five blocks, while Schaben, Conaway and freshman middle Avery Rhodes added three stuffs apiece. Redshirt sophomore libero Hali Hillegas paced the backcourt with 24 digs, followed by Schaben (19), freshman defensive specialist Izzy Enna (14) and Conaway (13).
Sophomore outside Jada Burse and senior right side Kelsie Payne paced the Jayhawks with 12 and 11 kills respectively, but both hit under .200 for the match. Sophomore middle Zoe Hill, senior outside Madison Rigdon and senior middle Kayla Cheadle added eight kills apiece. Hill hit at a .533 clip with 15 errorless swings. Senior setter Ainise Havili led the defense with team highs of three blocks and 18 digs to go with 42 assists. Rigdon (17), sophomore libero Allie Nelson (17), Payne (15) and senior defensive specialist Tori Miller (11) also added double-digit dig tallies.
The teams tied six times in first half of Set 1, last at 12. Iowa State broke away with an 8-1 run. Two putaways by West and two by Conaway helped lift the Cyclones to a 20-13 advantage. Kansas narrowed the gap to five at 22-17 with help from three ISU errors. Iowa State clinched the 25-18 win with three of the final four points. Kills by Schaben and West and a KU service error closed out the set.
A kill and an ace by Schaben helped Iowa State to a 4-0 lead in Set 2 and another four-point run made it 10-6. An ace by Harris and three Schaben kills pushed the lead to seven at 17-10. The teams split the next 12 points leading to a 23-16 score. Kills by Burse, Hill and Payne kept Kansas in it, the latter stopping a set-point try at 24-18. West capped the 25-19 victory with her fourth kill of the stanza.
Kansas came out of the break on fire, jumping ahead 8-4 and pushing the advantage to six at 13-7. Four ISU errors aided the early rally and three Burse kills gave the Jayhawks the 13-7 edge. Down 17-10, Iowa State scored four of the next five as three different players turned in kills to pull the Cyclones within four at 18-14. Trailing 21-15 later in the set, two Avery Rhodes kills and a Conaway kill had ISU within three at 21-18. Kansas cut the Cyclone comeback short with a final 4-1 run to keep the match going. Kills by Hill and Ridgon and a Tori Miller ace set up a final Iowa State hitting error.
After splitting the first 20 points of Set 4, Iowa State used a 7-3 run to gain some separation at 17-13. Three Conaway kills and a triple block by Harris, Lazard and Schaben contributed to the rally. Back-to-back kills by Cheadle had Kansas within two at 17-15, but the Cyclones answered with three in a row, including two KU errors. Iowa State led 23-19 after putaways by Schaben and West, but the set was far from over. Two Payne kills narrowed the gap, then a Rigdon kill and block by Cheadle and Havili thwarted a pair of ISU match point tries at 24-21. The Cyclones wrapped up the upset with a block of its own as Conaway and Lazard combined for the stuff.
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