AMES – Iowa State dropped its match against Colorado in four sets [19-25, 20-25, 25-17, 25-21] which grew its losing streak to six games. The Cyclones’ record falls to 9-14, and Iowa State head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch is just one loss away from tying her career-high in losses during a season with 15.
Junior Tierney Jackson and junior Morgan Brandt were bright spots in the losing effort. Jackson had three blocks to help on the block line and Brandt had one as well. Brandt added 30 assists and seven digs to her name as well.
Errors were the name of the game Wednesday night, as Iowa State totaled 37 errors. 23 of the errors were attack errors, but that might not tell the whole story.
“We were a little high in errors sometimes during that match,” Johnson-Lynch said. “At this point, we have nothing to lose, so can we just be aggressive? I didn’t think we were aggressive for a chunk of that match.”
“Obviously, I think there were some bad errors we made, but in the third and fourth set a lot of those errors were from the hitters going after it,” Jackson said. “The coaches told us instead of going around the block to go right at it.”
Iowa State ended the night with a service error and totaled 12 on the night.
“It’s a lot like a free throw,” Johnson-Lynch said. “The more you are worried about it, the worse it is. It’s the only time in volleyball when you stop. You have all this time to think, so you really have to try and keep your confidence up.”
Jackson had one of two aces for Iowa State on the night.
“You have to serve tough in volleyball; otherwise, the other team is going to find a way,” Johnson-Lynch said.
Iowa State’s block line did begin to find some momentum, even without its best blocker, sophomore Pam McCune.
“When you have a couple of smaller players [Rachel Van Gorp and Faith DeRonde], you have to really figure out how to strategize better,” Johnson-Lynch said.
“We’re trying to make the other team guess where [DeRonde’s] blocking,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Not that those guys are bad blockers they are just smaller, so other teams are going to automatically target them.”
Senior Brooke Stonestreet totaled 12 digs and has moved up to eighth place in digs in Iowa State history.
Iowa State will need to be at its best for its next three games. The Cyclones hit the road for matches against Texas Tech, Arizona State and Arizona.
Arizona State is currently ranked eighth in the country and sits atop the Big 12. Arizona is 14-9 but has a 3-9 record in conference play.
“Even though the results are not there, we just have to keep working hard, keep playing aggressive and keep getting better. That’s what it’s all about,” Johnson-Lynch said.
