ISU Drops Five-Set Battle at UCF - Iowa State Athletics

ORLANDO, Fla. – Iowa State (13-10, 7-5 Big 12) fell at UCF (13-9, 5-7 Big 12) in five sets by scores of 17-25, 13-25, 25-18, 25-22, 5-15 Thursday night.

In the second five-set battle this season with the Knights, the Cyclones were unable to complete the reverse sweep. ISU won the first meeting in Ames on Sept. 27.

Nayeli Ti'a had the 25th double-double of her career and third this season with 11 kills and 11 digs. The senior now stands 14 kills away from the 1,000th of her career.

Freshman D'Aaliyah Kemp put up a new career high with 12 kills hitting over .300 to lead the Cyclones. Nayeli Gonzalez was the third Cyclone in double figures with 10, also totaling seven digs.

Rachel Van Gorp nearly had a 30-dig night with 26, while assisting on six kills. Ella Florez led Iowa State with 29 assists.

SET ONE

Ti'a capped a 3-0 run with an ace as ISU took an early 6-5 lead, but UCF came back with a run of its own to go up 9-6 as Iowa State called a timeout. The host hit the media timeout ahead by five while ISU hit in the negative, and reached 20 first with Iowa State at 12. UCF would take the first set 25-17.

SET TWO

Alea Goolsby put down her second kill of the frame and followed that with an ace to tie the second at 4s. UCF again was the first to 10 (10-6), and the Knights continued to hit over .300 to reach the media timeout up 15-10. UCF headed to the third up 2-0 after a second set score of 25-13.

SET THREE
Ti'a delivered two kills for the Cyclones' first points, and Iowa State went up 6-3 after kills by Kemp and Gonzalez to lead to a UCF timeout. Gonzalez and Goolsby slammed down kills, and a Van Gorp ace dropped in right after to then give ISU a 10-5 lead. Iowa State had another run capped with an Florez ace to go up six (13-7), and Ti'a would total her fifth kill of the set to make it 16-10. ISU remained with the lead at 23-14 after two Pam McCune kills, but UCF answered taking the next four. ISU kept with it, forcing a fourth at 25-18.

SET FOUR

Like the third, Ti'a had the first kill of the set. Iowa State held the lead at 7-3 leading to an early timeout by the host, and ISU's run stretched to four out of the break. Iowa State won a long rally capped with a block to go up 12-6, and hit the media timeout with a five-point lead. The Knights then knotted the score 16-16, but Goolsby silenced the home crowd with a kill next. The set saw another tie at 18s, but ISU remained with the lead scoring the next three. Iowa State took the set 25-22 to keep the match going.

SET FIVE

Following a tie at 3s, UCF followed taking the next three to force an ISU timeout. Gonzalez entered double figures to make it 6-4, but the Knights continued to hold the lead at 9-4 leading to the second timeout of the fifth by ISU. The host ended the match on a 6-0 run, winning by a set score of 15-5.

Next up

Iowa State now returns home to face No. 8 BYU Saturday, Nov. 7 at 2 p.m.

Players Mentioned

Ella Florez

Nayeli Gonzalez

Alea Goolsby

D'Aaliyah Kemp

Pam McCune

Nayeli Ti'a

Rachel Van Gorp

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics

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