Iowa State Sweeps No. 18 Baylor

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State (17-4, 7-3 Big 12) swept No. 18 Baylor (12-7, 7-4 Big 12) Wednesday night to remain undefeated at home at 7-0. It is ISU's first sweep over a ranked opponent since Oct. 20, 2018 at No. 22 Kansas.

ISU posted its eighth sweep of the season with set scores of 25-23, 25-23, 25-12. The Cyclones also secured their second ranked win of 2025, and the 46th under Christy Johnson-Lynch.

Rachel Van Gorp flew all over the court with hard-fought saves, and had an astounding 12 digs in the first set alone. The star libero had 25 through the three sets for an average of 8.33 per set.

Reagan Hanfelt sent an errorless nine kills to the floor at .474, and put up a team-leading six blocks. Alea Goolsby and Tierney Jackson also had nine kills on the night.

SET ONE
Iowa State held the lead until the Bears flipped it at 6-5 following a run of three. With BU ahead 9-7, ISU took five straight on a scoring spree including two kills and two blocks. Iowa State found a three-point edge at 15-12, and after Baylor came back within one, Hanfelt laid down a kill to prevent a tie. A Morgan Brandt ace then brought the scoreboard to 19-15 as Baylor called its second timeout, and ISU would reach 20 on a Nayeli Ti'a kill (20-17). The set saw many long rallies, while Baylor came out with the point to again pull within one at 21-20. A 3-0 Cyclone run followed to make it set point (24-20), but the Bears took their own 3-0 run. Iowa State ended the set next on a kill by Goolsby.

SET TWO

The Cyclones' fourth block began the second strong for the first point of the match, but Baylor went on its way to find themselves ahead 7-3. Iowa State trimmed the deficit down to one (8-7) after a setter kill by Brandt. BU stayed with the advantage, leading 15-13 at the midway point. Maya Duckworth perfectly placed three kills late in the set, including one to tie it at 18s. ISU got the lead back after a Baylor attack error and following an unsuccessful challenge by the visitors, Iowa State led 20-18. Hanfelt had two late kills, with one making it set point, ISU (24-22), and a BU attack error sealed the 2-0 Cyclone match lead at 25-23.

SET THREE

Neither team broke away from the other to begin the third, with seven ties seen before reaching 10 points. Hanfelt had her seventh kill on 16 swings to give ISU the 15-14 edge at the media timeout and Iowa State held the lead. Faith DeRonde served up an ace making it 20-17 while causing a Baylor timeout, and another Bear timeout came soon after at 22-18. Two more Hanfelt kills followed, including the match winner at 25-21.

NEXT UP

Iowa State is back home to host No. 6 Arizona State, the Big 12 leader and highest-ranked opponent the Cyclones have faced this season. The match begins at 6:30 p.m.

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Team Stats

Tierney Jackson

Alea Goolsby

Reagan Hanfelt

Maya Duckworth

Players Mentioned

Morgan Brandt

Faith DeRonde

Maya Duckworth

Alea Goolsby

Reagan Hanfelt

Tierney Jackson

Nayeli Ti'a

Rachel Van Gorp

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics