AMES, Iowa – The No. 18 Cyclones (20-7, 13-3 Big 12) took down No. 3 Texas (23-4, 15-1 Big 12) in five sets (23-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-25, 15-13) on senior day in front of a raucous crowd of 4,396 at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday. It is the second win Iowa State over a top-five team this season and the 10th-straight win for the club.
“What a memorable match for our seniors,” Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. “This is how volleyball should be. There were a lot of great rallies and a lot of pressure and we had people come through time and time again.”
The Cyclone senior class of Jamie Straube, Alison Landwehr, Rachel Hockaday and Taylor Knuth went out victorious and became the only class in school history to beat both Texas and Nebraska twice in their careers. The upset of the Longhorns also marked Johnson-Lynch’s 100th win over a Big 12 team.
Iowa State out-hit Texas .333 to .332, the first time a Johnson-Lynch team has hit over .300 against the Longhorns, led by freshman Andie Malloy’s 19 kills and .372 hitting clip. Landwehr also put up 66 assists, tying her career high. Junior libero Kristen Hahn had 30 digs in the match, the third time she’s had at least 30 in a match this season. Bailey Webster of Texas had a match-high 28 kills on .446 hitting.
The Cyclones jumped out to a 11-6 lead in the final set behind back-t- back kills from Victoria Hurtt. Webster once again helped the Longhorns right the ship, getting three kills in a Texas run that tied the match, 13-13. A Malloy kill gave the Cyclones match point, followed by a Webster attack error to clinch the Iowa State victory.
Texas took a close, offense-heavy first set behind six kills from Webster. Mackenzie Bigbee led the Cyclones with five kills as both teams hit over .300 with no blocks in the game. The Longhorns led, 21-18, before kills from Tenisha Matlock and Bigbee (two), tied the score at 21. Bigbee evened the score again, 23-23, but Molly McCage and Webster scored the final two kills of the set, putting the visitors up, 1-0.
Set two was more back-and-forth, with the teams knotting the score 10 times, but it was the Cyclones who pulled out the set win to tie the match at a set apiece. Straube had six kills, including the set winner, to lead all scorers. Through two sets, Iowa State hit .389 with one block while the Longhorns hit at a .316 clip with no blocks.
The Cyclones came out strong again in game three, hitting .340, to take the 2-1 set lead. Straube added seven more kills to her final performance at Hilton Coliseum and went to the fourth set hitting .591 on the night. Hahn tallied 24 digs through three sets and Landwehr had 45 assists.
Texas took control in set four, hitting .581 and forcing .265 hitting from the Cyclones, the first sub-.300 set for the home team on the night. Webster recorded eight kills to end the fourth with a match-high 24 as the teams entered the deciding set.
The Cyclones will host an NCAA Selection Show watch party on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 3 p.m. CST at Johnny’s at Hilton Coliseum. Fans can park in the lots south of Center Drive and enter through the southeast doors next to Johnny’s. Doors will open at 2:45 p.m.
