Iowa State swept Kansas State in straight sets 25-20, 25-15, 25-18 on Friday night at Hilton Coliseum.
Nayeli Gonzalez recorded a match-high 14 kills while hitting .500 to power the Cyclones (10-6, 4-1 Big 12). Gonzalez landed her first six attack attempts cleanly without a miss to secure her seventh consecutive match with double-digit kills.
As a team, Iowa State hit .344 on the night, marking its third match this season hitting above .300, while limiting Kansas State (9-4, 1-4 Big 12) to a .114 hitting percentage.
Freshman setter Ella Florez directed the Cyclone offense with a career-high 30 assists and added nine digs. Libero Rachel Van Gorp anchored Iowa State’s backline with a match-high 15 digs. Mesaiya Bettis added eight kills, Pam McCune tallied seven kills on .333 hitting, and Nayeli Ti’a chipped in six kills for the Cyclones. Addison Massey paced Kansas State with 10 kills, while setter Emerson Van Lannen dished out 25 assists.
Iowa State controlled the opening set early behind Gonzalez’s hot start on the outside. After Kansas State pulled even at 9-9, a combined block by Reagan Hanfelt and Nayeli Ti’a pushed the Cyclones ahead 20-15. Iowa State hit .394 in the opening frame to close out a 25-20 set victory.
The Cyclones built momentum quickly in the second set, holding the Wildcats scoreless through the first three points and mounting a scoring run capped by a Hanfelt kill to push the margin to 15-7. Iowa State expanded its cushion to 20-10 before winning a video challenge that made the score 23-14. The Cyclones sealed the frame 25-15 while forcing Kansas State into negative hitting (-.031) in the set.
Gonzalez opened the final set with her 11th kill, and a middle block from McCune later helped maintain an Iowa State advantage at 15-11. The Wildcats rallied within three points at 19-16 before back-to-back Kansas State errors forced a visiting timeout. Iowa State capitalized on the momentum to complete the sweep with a 25-18 set victory.
Iowa State held team advantages over Kansas State in total blocks (6.0 to 4.0), digs (42 to 37), and service aces (5 to 4). A crowd of 2,334 watched the match finish in 1 hour and 27 minutes. The Cyclones close out their weekend on the road against Cincinnati on Sunday at noon.
