Blue Demons Earn Weekend Sweep of the Cyclones

Saturday, March 13

Chicago, Ill.

4:00 P.M. CT

DePaul University

6-5,3-5Big East

Iowa State

6-12,5-9Big 12

Iowa St.

DePaul

Blue Demons Earn Weekend Sweep of the Cyclones

3/13/2021 8:42:00 PM | WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Pressly and Lee notch double-doubles, Nelson adds 13 kills

CHICAGO – DePaul volleyball picked up its second win in as many days over Iowa State on Saturday night with a 3-1 (24-26, 26-24, 25-23, 25-22) decision at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

Freshman Jill Pressly led the attack with 15 kills to go along with 17 digs. Bailey Nelson added 13 kills and three blocks.

Rachel Krasowski led the defensive effort with a team-high 19 digs while Donna Brown matched a career-high with seven blocks at the net.

Phoenix Lee tallied her second career double-double with 20 assists and 15 digs. Molly Murrihy dished out 25 assists and a team-high three service aces.

"Another gritty team effort tonight against an Iowa State team that played very tough defense and shredded us on the outside for parts of the match. Awesome to see a team push us and us push back." said Head Coach Marie Zidek.

"Bailey had a break out performance and took some big time swings when we needed some kills at critical times. Sierra Ellison stepping in cold and getting us a critical service ace as she's done all season."

Set One: Iowa State 26, DePaul 24
Iowa State jumped out to an early 5-1 advantage before DePaul went on a 4-0 run of their own to even the score at 5-5. A Pressly service ace gave the Blue Demons a 14-12 edge before DePaul earned eight of the next nine points to take a 22-15 advantage, their largest of the evening. Annie Hatch put down three consecutive kills and recorded a service ace to come within three at 22-19. Pressly put down a kill to give DePaul set point before three Blue Demon miscues gave Iowa State the first set.

Set Two: DePaul 26, Iowa State 24
The second set was a back-and-forth affair with DePaul taking a two-point lead for the first time at 11-9 off of a Cyclones service error. Consecutive errors by Allison Dennemann gave Iowa State a 14-12 lead and forced a DePaul timeout. The Cyclones would score five of the next seven points to balloon the lead to five at 19-14. Avarie Evans-Allen put down back-to-back kills from the middle to pull DePaul within one at 23-22. DePaul staved off a set point before a Sierra Ellison service aced forced extra volleyball. Two Iowa State errors gave DePaul the second set to even the match at 1-1.

Set Three: DePaul 25, Iowa State 23
DePaul held an early 8-5 advantage thanks to an Evans-Allen service ace and back-to-back Cyclones errors. Molly Murrihy built on the Blue Demons lead with consecutive service aces to bring DePaul's advantage to 11-6. Eleanor Holthaus tallied two service aces in a row to even the score at 14. The score never wavered from a two-point advantage for either side until a Pressly kill put DePaul on top 22-19. Phoenix Lee recorded a service ace to put DePaul up 24-22 before an Iowa State attack error two points later secured a 2-1 match lead for the Blue Demons.

Set Four: DePaul 25, Iowa State 22
The Blue Demons created separation in set four at 12-9 after a Hanna Karl kill, a Nelson and Brown block and a Cyclones hitting error. Pressly notched an ace to give DePaul the biggest lead of the set at 21-16. Iowa State threatened at 22-21, but DePaul won three of the next four points to clinch the match. The Blue Demons held Iowa State to just .095 hitting in the fourth set.

"Overall, it was the team effort in getting us through to the finish line. So proud of this team's continued growth."