KU Volleyball Falls At Iowa State In Season Finale

AMES, Iowa – Despite hitting a higher attack percentage throughout the match, the Kansas volleyball team fell in three sets (25-21, 25-22, 25-22) at Iowa State Saturday evening in both teams’ final regular season match.

KU wraps up its season 13-16 overall and 7-13 in the Big 12, while ISU concluded the regular season 19-12 overall and 11-9 in conference play.

Senior Natalie Uhart led the team with nine kills in her final appearance for the Jayhawks. Junior Brittany Williams trailed with seven kills behind a .429 attack percentage.

Nicole Tate wrapped up the year with her 11th double-double as the freshman setter tallied 29 assists along with 12 digs. Sophomore Karina Garlington also dug up 12, while sophomore libero Melissa Manda led the squad with 13 digs.

Over half of KU’s points came from Iowa State attack errors in the opening frame, but the Cyclones managed to record 16 kills compared to eight for the Jayhawks. KU stayed close behind the Cyclones until ISU used a 6-1 run late in the set to pull too far out of Kansas’ reach. The Jayhawks also struggled with service reception as ISU recorded five aces in the set en route to Iowa State’s 25-21 win.

Kansas fell behind early in the second set but soon went on a 6-1 advantage to come within two points at 17-15 and eventually caught up to the Cyclones knotting the score at 19. However, ISU recorded five more kills to score six of the next nine points and take the set 25-22.

Following 10 ties and five lead changes, Iowa State came up with the 25-22 victory in set three to complete the sweep.

With the teams tied at 13, Kansas tallied six of the next seven points to go up 19-14 on the Cyclones. Iowa State responded back with a 6-1 run of its own to lock the score at 20-20. Then, after a quick KU timeout, ISU tacked on three more unanswered points, including two service aces, to takeover the lead. Sophomore Jenna Kaiser notched a kill to stop the Cyclones’ run but Iowa State put two more tallies on the scoreboard for the win.

In addition to Uhart, the Jayhawks also graduate senior Savannah Noyes, who ended the season with four kills, four digs and a pair of blocks at ISU.