Coming in under the storm of a 15-game conference losing streak, the Iowa State Cyclones fell to the No. 13 Texas A&M volleyball team in three short games Wednesday night in College Station.
The Aggies (17-6, 13-4 Big 12) beat the Cyclones 30-23, 30-26 and 30-21 in the final game. A&M came out strong in the first game, gaining as much as an eight-point lead at times and dominating on both sides of the ball.
The second game was a little more balanced, as Iowa State began to capitalize on mistakes in the Aggie offense. A&M head coach Laurie Corbelli said the team had a letdown in game two.
“Our passing broke down and it affected our offense,” she said. “I think it could’ve been better. I was trying to get some new people on the floor and get some experience going. We had a new back row player in there. Things broke down a little bit for awhile, but we were able to keep things together and keep things going.”
Game three went more smoothly for the Aggies, as they led the entire game, gaining as much as a 12-point advantage.
Some key players for the Cyclones included junior setter Amanda Craig, who hit for .308 on the night with 30 set assists. Sophomore Nicole Lorenzen notched 14 kills for Iowa State with eight digs and a .250 hitting percentage.
With the week off that A&M just had after its loss to Texas in Austin last Thursday, senior middle blocker/outside hitter Melissa Munsch said the team took some time to restructure the offense to keep its look from getting stale.
“People are starting to catch on to the way we’ve been playing,” Munsch said. “So we’ve made a few little changes, some new offensive plays to make our team better.”
Corbelli said she was happy with the numbers at the end of the game. Aggie sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Christi Hahn hit for a career-high and team-leading .476 and earned 11 kills and five digs. Munsch had another outstanding night, hitting .424 with 14 kills and 14 digs. Junior setter Kari Kelley earned 37 set assists on the night, and also notched her own 14 digs.
“I really enjoyed the new plays,” Kelley said. “A lot of times you get predictable in the same rotation and the same plays. We tried to incorporate that today, I think the girls really responded and it went really well.”