Jayhawks Upset No. 19 Cyclones In Five
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Freshman outside hitter Tiana Dockery recorded her second career double-double (14 kills and 15 digs), while three other Jayhawks hit in double-figures to help Kansas knock off No. 19 Iowa State, 25-19, 25-16, 23-25, 23-25, 15-9, Wednesday night at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center.
Redshirt junior middle blocker Caroline Jarmoc, sophomore outside hitter Sara McClinton and Dockery led the offense with 14 kills each, while redshirt junior Catherine Carmichaeladded 13 to round out the balanced Kansas offensive attack. With the win, the Jayhawks improved to 14-2 on the season and 2-0 in Big 12 Conference play while the Cyclones fell to 7-5 and 1-1.
“We were really good the first two sets and then fought hard in the third and fourth. We didn’t make one glaring mistake, just some little things that kept us from finishing it out,” Kansas head coach Ray Bechard said after the win. “You have a team like Iowa State, that’s been in the Elite Eight the last two or three years, they are going to come back at you. But boy, what a great response. We got on a nice run with Bri (Brianne) Riley serving. That was good volleyball. That was really good volleyball. I hope the fans understood that it was pretty high level and obviously I’m excited. I wish we hadn’t been out there for two hours and 15 minutes; an hour and a half would have been better, but in the end maybe that will help us too.”
Junior setter Erin McNorton played a big role in facilitating the Kansas offense, finishing the match with 53 assists and 16 digs, her fourth double-double of the season. Defensively the Jayhawks were led by Jarmoc, who finished the match with eight total blocks and junior libero Brianne Rileywho added 24 digs.
The Cyclones offense was led by sophomore outside hitter Victoria Hurtt, who finished the match with 17 kills. Senior outside hitter Rachel Hockaday and freshman right-side hitter Mackenzie Bigbee also finished the match with double-digit kills, both adding 10. Senior setter Alison Landwehr controlled the Cyclone offense, dishing out 49 assists, while redshirt-freshman middle blocker Tory Knuth led the Cyclone defense with six total blocks in the defeat.
To open the contest, the Jayhawks came out firing on all cylinders, to take a 13-9 lead early in the set and force an Iowa State timeout. The Cyclones would respond and use a 4-0 run to bring the score within one, 15-14, and force a timeout by Kansas. Coming out of the timeout the Jayhawks, behind a couple kills from McClinton, went on a 4-1 run to put Kansas up 19-15 and forced another Cyclone timeout. It would be all Crimson and Blue the rest of the way, as the Jayhawks put the finishing touches on the Cyclones, 25-19, on a kill from Jarmoc, who had three in the set. The Jayhawks used a balanced attack in the set, with three players (Dockery, Carmicael and McClinton) recording four kills apiece, to lead the team. McNorton guided the offense in the opening set, recording 14 assists, while Riley dug up seven balls to lead the Jayhawk defense.
Kansas would ride its momentum into the second set using two separate 3-0 runs to build an early 7-3 lead. The Cyclones would fight back to tie the score at eight, until a quick run by the Jayhawks and an ace from Riley forced an Iowa State timeout with KU leading 14-10. Runs from both teams allowed KU to extend its lead, 19-15, before another Iowa State timeout was called to stall the KU momentum. The Jayhawks would only lose one point the rest of the set, closing out the set on a 9-1 run to finish off the Cyclones, 25-16. Jarmoc led the Jayhawk offense and defense in the set, recording a team-leading three kills on a .375 hitting percentage and three total blocks.
The Big 12 Conference foes played each other tight coming out of the break, resulting in a 12-12 tie midway through the third set. The back-and-forth play would continue, before a quick 2-0 spurt from the Jayhawks, capped off by a block from Jarmoc and Carmichael, would give KU the lead, 19-17, and force another Iowa State timeout. Kansas head coach Bechard called a timeout after the Cyclones fought back and tied the set at 22. Two straight Cyclone points forced another timeout from the KU bench, with the Jayhawks facing set point, 24-22. The Cyclones were victorious, 25-23, on a kill from Hurtt, who had seven in the set. The Jayhawk offense was led by Dockery and McClinton, who had four kills each. McNorton continued to control the KU offense, adding 15 assists to her total.
The Cyclones would keep their momentum to open up the fourth set, jumping out to an early 7-3 lead before Bechard called an early timeout. ISU would stay hot, leading by as many as five, before Kansas would come back to knot the score at 17. With the set tied at 18, Jarmoc would deliver the Jayhawks their first lead of the set with a huge kill. A 4-1 run gave the advantage back to the Cyclones and forced Bechard to take his second timeout of the set with his team trailing by two, 22-20. The stop wouldn’t slow down the Cyclones, who would close out KU 25-23 to force a fifth set. Jarmoc led the Jayhawks on both sides of the net once again, recording a team-high four kills and three total blocks for the set.
The Jayhawks were finally able to swing the momentum back in their direction to begin the fifth and deciding set, opening up a 4-1 lead before Iowa State called timeout. The stoppage in play wasn’t enough to slow down the Jayhawks, who increased their advantage to a 9-1 lead before the Cyclones would score another point. Kansas stayed hot throughout the remainder of the set, finishing out the Cyclones, 15-9 to take the match. Dockery and Carmichael led the Jayhawk offense in set five, tallying two kills each.
Riley’s 24 digs moved her up to 1,194 for her Kansas career, enough to pass Sarah Rome (1,177) for fourth on Kansas’ all-time list. Jarmoc’s eight total blocks gave her 338 as a Jayhawk and moved her into seventh place on the all-time total blocks list, passing Anne Kreimer (335).
UP NEXT:
The Jayhawks will take the court again next Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 5:30 p.m., when they travel to Morgantown to take on new Big 12 foe West Virginia at the WVU Coliseum.
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