Falls Short
 Mancuso |  Werth |  Thramer |
Gina Mancuso led Nebraska with 18 kill on 47 attacks (.298). Hannah Werth posted 16 kills on 36 swings (.333), while Hayley Thramer had nine kills on 22 swings (.318). Lauren Cook tabbed 44 assists and 15 digs. Lara Dykstra led NU defensively with 22 digs.
Nebraska hit just .211 for the match, while Iowa State hit .182. ISU out-dug Nebraska 84-78, while the Huskers out-blocked the Cyclones 13-3.
The Huskers opened the match with a service ace by Cook, while the Cyclones came back fighting to tie the set at 6-6. Cook and Thramer teamed up for a block to give the Huskers an 11-7 lead and force Iowa State to call a timeout. ISU came out of the timeout and scored three consecutive points to cut the Husker lead to 13-11, but Nebraska returned to post three straight points for a 16-11 lead. A kill by Morgan Broekhuis gave the Huskers their biggest lead of the set at 18-14. From that point the two teams tied six times before the Cyclones snatched the first set 25-23.
Werth and Thramer both tallied three kills in the first set, while Cook had 11 assists. The Huskers hit .158 in the first set, while Iowa State held a .250 hitting percentage. Nebraska was out-dug 19-15.
Nebraska will open Big Ten Conference play this Wednesday, Sept. 19 as the Huskers travel to State College, Pa., to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions.
Nebraska fell down early in the second set, but came back to tie the set at 11-11 behind a kill from Werth. She responded with another kill to give the Huskers just their second lead of the set. Iowa State would come to an 18-15 lead before back-to-back kills by Mancuso would put NU up 19-18. ISU would not back down, taking a 21-19 lead before Nebraska would cut it as close as 23-22 on a block by Broekhuis and Thramer. Iowa State would win the second set 25-22.
Mancuso recorded eight kills for the Huskers in the second set, while Werth posted five. Cook tabbed 12 assists, but the Huskers hit just .163 as a team. The Cyclones posted a .250 hitting percentage for the set.
Nebraska came out to a 4-3 lead in the third set as Broekhuis notched a kill. A block by Thramer, followed by a kill from Mancuso put NU up 11-8 and forced Iowa State to call a timeout. From there the Huskers saw Thramer punch in two kills and capitalized on an error by ISU to take a 16-12 lead. Mancuso helped NU to a 19-13 advantage, as a kill by Cook would put Nebraska up 24-19 and the Huskers would go on to take the third set 25-20, trailing 2-1 in the match.
In the third set, both Mancuso and Thramer had four kills, while Haggerty and Werth had three kills each. The Huskers hit .378 in the set, holding Iowa State to a .158 hitting percentage.
Nebraska trailed 5-0 in the fourth set, before a kill by Thramer gave the Huskers their first points of the set. Nebraska could not get anything going offensively as the Cyclones took an 11-4 lead and forced NU to use a timeout. The Huskers inched back point by point, trailing just 15-12 on a kill from Mancuso. Miscommunication cost the Huskers, as Iowa State took a 19-15 lead. A kill by Werth and a pair of hitting errors by the Cyclones made it 21-18, Iowa State as ISU called a timeout. The Huskers tried to inch back, trailing 23-21, but Iowa State would close NU out with a 25-21 fourth-set victory, sealing the match win.
-----------------------------------------
1 2 3 4
Iowa State (25) 25 25 20 25
Nebraska (1) 23 22 25 21
-----------------------------------------