Iowa State suffered a straight-sets loss to in-state rival Iowa on Tuesday night, falling 25-20, 25-21, 25-23.
The Cyclones dropped to 4-2 on the season with the defeat, while the Hawkeyes improved to 4-2.
Pam McCune, Mesaiya Bettis, and Nayeli Gonzalez paced the Iowa State attack with eight kills apiece. Alea Goolsby and Nayeli Ti’a added seven kills each for the Cyclones. Setter Ella Florez dished out 19 assists, while Ava Martin registered a double-double with 14 assists and 10 digs. Libero Rachel
Van Gorp anchored the defense with a match-high 16 digs.
Iowa State out-killed Iowa 46-41 and held a 52-50 edge in digs, but 26 attack errors proved costly for the Cyclones compared to just 14 for the Hawkeyes. Iowa State finished with a .230 hitting percentage on 122 total attempts, while Iowa hit .287 across 108 swings and controlled the net with a 7.0 to 3.0 blocking advantage.
Ksenija Tomic led Iowa with 10 kills and a .409 hitting percentage. Carmel Vares added nine kills, Liv Mogridge posted seven, and Hannah Whittingstall recorded six kills and three block assists. Setter Jenna Meitzler directed the Hawkeye offense with 35 assists, while Henlee Moszkowicz and Marichka Hoshylyk gathered 10 digs apiece.
Iowa State struggled out of the gate in the opening frame, hitting just .073 while committing 11 attack errors. Despite early kills from Lilly Wachholz and McCune, Iowa pulled ahead late with swings from Mogridge and Vares before Hallie Steponaitis sealed the 25-20 opener.
The Cyclones found better offensive flow in the second set, generating 17 kills while hitting .306. Late putaways from Goolsby and McCune pulled Iowa State within striking distance, but a Cyclone ball-handling error on set point handed Iowa the 25-21 set win.
The final set featured a tight, back-and-forth battle with nine tie scores and four lead changes. Iowa State erased a late deficit to tie the set at 21-21 following an Iowa attack error. Consecutive kills by Steponaitis and Tomic pushed Iowa ahead, and Whittingstall put down the match-ending kill off a assist from Meitzler to secure the 25-23 win and the match sweep.
The match was played in front of an attendance of 4,665 and lasted 1 hour and 51 minutes.
