Iowa State let another 2-0 set lead slip away against Kansas State, as the Cyclones fell 3-2 to the Wildcats Saturday night [30-28, 25-23, 26-28, 17-25, 10-15]. Junior Maya Duckworth had a career-high in kills with 23 and sophomore Pam McCune was a brick wall at the net with another 10 block match. 

Iowa State starts strong

Set one was back and forth before Duckworth and McCune combined for a block to finish the set for the Cyclones. Duckworth was on fire with seven kills in this set. 

Set two was another barnburner. A solo block from McCune, her fifth of the match, gave Iowa State a 5-4 lead. Kansas State briefly led 10-9, but Duckworth’s kills put the Cyclones back on top. After a 4-0 Wildcats run, Kansas State led 15-13 at the media timeout. 

Sophomore Nayeli Gonzalez’s kill and freshman Rachel Van Gorp’s ace tied the set at 23 apiece. Iowa State reached set point and secured the 2-0 match lead after a Kansas State attack error. 

Struggling to slam the door

Set three was where the match started to falter for the Cyclones. Down 2-0, Iowa State took a 5-2 lead after two aces from redshirt sophomore Kiersten Schmitt. 

The Wildcats would tie it at seven, and Duckworth’s 15th kill brought the Cyclones within two at 16-14. Trailing 21-17, Iowa State closed the gap with a Gonzalez kill and some blocks to tie it at 23. Duckworth got the Cyclones to match-point twice, but Kansas State would still prevail 28-26.

Set four is where Iowa State found itself in the same position as its previous two matches. The Wildcats jumped ahead 6-2, forcing an early Cyclones timeout and extending their run to 9-2. 

Iowa State’s offensive struggles continued, and Kansas State pushed its lead to 20-11. The Wildcats stayed in control and won the fourth set 25-17 to force a fifth.

Set five was more of what happened in the first four sets. Iowa State started with a block, but Kansas State led 8-4 at the side switch. The Cyclones came within two points, but the Wildcats closed it out 15-10 to win the match.

Iowa State has gone up 2-0 in a plethora of matches this year and seems always to find itself in five-set matches. Urgency has been preached throughout practice for the Cyclones, and they didn’t have enough Saturday.

This is the third match in a row Iowa State has gone up 2-0, and this one they let get away from them. 

Stonestreet, Duckworth impress again

Despite the loss, senior libero Brooke Stonestreet extended her streak of 20 or more digs to five matches. Stonestreet had a match-high 25 digs and added eight assists to her name. 

Stonestreet has stepped into a larger role since Van Gorp dealt with an injury and hasn’t looked back since.

Duckworth has been on fire lately, including double-digit kills in her last seven games. She had her career-high tonight with 23 and added nine digs and five blocks.

Iowa State stays on the road while it continues Big 12 play. The Cyclones face Houston on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game will be live-streamed on ESPN+.