 IOWA STATE 3, TULANE 0 (25-21, 30-28, 25-16)
Ames, IA – In front of 1,500 Cyclone fans, Iowa State (21-13) needed only three sets to claim the title in the NIVC championship matchup against Tulane (29-9). After grabbing the first set, ISU outlasted the Green Wave, 30-28, in a wild second frame and with all the momentum, swept up the victory with an easy third set win. Iowa State’s front line came out swinging. Midway through the opening set, the Cyclones were hammering the Green Wave with a .500 attack percentage. Eleanor Holthaus, Jess Schaben and Josie Herbst combined for 13 kills while sophomore middle blocker Candelaria Herrera tallied two big blocks to preserve the first set, 25-21. Determined to swing the momentum, Tulane quickly ran out to a 6-3 lead to open the second stanza behind stout defensive efforts from Makala Heidelberg and Kaylie McHugh, who totaled 10 digs. With its attacking percentage dipping, Iowa State leaned heavily on its defense to climb back into the set. Herrera dialed up another block, her third of the contest, and sophomore setter Piper Mauck came up with eight digs as the Cyclones tied up the score midway through set No. 2. Neither team could separate themselves late in the second. Fighting off five set points, Josie Herbst and NIVC kill leader Jess Schaben finished off the Green Wave with back-to-back kills to claim the set, 30-28. Herrera picked up right where she left off to begin the third set. The sophomore Cyclone out of San Juan Argentina picked her fourth and fifth blocks of the game to give her squad an early 7-3 lead. Sensing a championship in sight, Iowa State kept its foot on the pedal, cruising to victory, 25-16. Freshman Yvette Burcescu led Tulane with eight kills on the evening and recorded one of four blocks for the Green Wave. Makala Heidelberg gave head coach Jim Barnes her best effort with six kills and 10 digs. Setters Jenna Ibieta and Taylor Henigsnman each ended with 14 assists. With 13 digs on the night, Kaylie McHugh vaulted to a NIVC tournament record with 97. Two Cyclone players also made NIVC history on Tuesday night. Piper Mauck’s 42 assists gives here the record with 219 while Jess Schaben added 14 kills to her NIVC record, finishing with 99. The 2018 NIVC all-tournament was announced after the match; those players awarded were: Jess Schaben (MVP), Iowa State Candelaria Herrera, Iowa State Eleanor Holthaus, Iowa State Dayna Kern, Tulane Kaylie McHugh, Tulane Kennedy Madison, College of Charleston Mariena Hayden, UNLV  The 2018 National Invitational Volleyball Championship will crown a champion on Tuesday evening, with Iowa State (20-13) hosting Tulane (29-8) at 7:30 p.m. ET. This is the second NIVC since its revival; Ole Miss topped Texas Tech for the title in 2017. Previous winners of the event are:
1989 – Wisconsin 1990 – Houston 1991 – Kentucky 1992 – Washington State 1993 – Louisiana State 1994 – Cal-State Northridge 1995 – Wisconsin IOWA STATE – The Cyclones tied for third place in the Big 12, won four straight matches to end the regular season and haven’t shown much wobble in the NIVC, either. North Texas did win the first set of their quarterfinal match, but ISU swept the next three sets; in the semis, UNLV applied some pressure, but Iowa State won both sets that went past 25 points. The two latest victories came despite the loss of senior Grace Lazard, who was dismissed from the team after a rules violation. Fellow senior Jess Schaben, a three-time Big 12 first-team selection, has 502 kills on the season and 19 double-doubles (she had 13 digs in the semis). Sophomore setter Piper Mauck is handling the task extremely well, averaging 11.14 assists per set with a total of 1,248 for the year. Another young player offering important production is freshman Eleanor Holthaus (255 kills). “We’ve never played in the NIVC,” ISU head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch told the Iowa Gazette. “I don’t think I appreciated how much of a grind this is. We have had to dig deep these last couple of weeks. The NCAA Tournament just has a different feel. “Their bodies are tired, they’re going into finals — there are a lot of reasons they could say, ‘You know what, I’ll go through the motions.’ But they’re not. They’re getting better and they’re showing so much courage. We have some tough kids.” Johnson-Lynch is in her 14th year with the Cyclones. In the nine years before her time as head coach, Iowa State had a conference record of 13-167; her teams have complied a Big 12 mark of 152-80. TULANE – The Green Wave experienced an early scare in the NIVC, getting pushed to five sets against an underrated squad from Arkansas State. But Tulane showed its explosive nature, winning set four 25-8 before pulling out the finale in Round 1, 15-13. Head coach Jim Barnes is in his third year and has helped dim memories of some down years (Tulane was 15-49 overall in 20-14-15). The team has a very democratic offense, with five players ringing up at least 250 kills on the year. Sophomore Lexie Douglas (346) and junior Erika Hansel (344) lead the way, staying in step nicely with a young duo of setters, freshman Taylor Henigsman and sophomore Jenna Ibieta. If there’s an X-factor for the Green Wave, look for junior libero Kaylie McHugh to make her mark. She’s the program’s most accomplished defender and set the American Athletic Conference single-season record for aces with 58. She credits her three brothers (who are 15, 12 and 10 years older than she) for honing her competitive edge. Tulane is in for a challenge in playing at Iowa State, but the roster already understands how to play in adverse conditions – leading hitter Kristen Thompson had to be shut down earlier in the year with a knee injury, and the Green Wave dropped four straight matches while trying to reconfigure the lineup. “We knew we’d be better and be a good team, but we also knew we’d need to start two or three freshmen. You’re never quite sure how that will work out, but we did have the depth and talent,” said Barnes, who has also run the show at Lamar, Wyoming and Baylor in his career. “We started playing really well, then lost our best attacker and blocker and ended up starting a fourth freshman. I needed them to understand what we were going though. They were confused; they knew we were making an adjustment after losing Kristen. And of course when you’re losing (matches), you think we’re terrible at that moment. But we were barely losing sets.”  TULANE 3, COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-17)
New Orleans, LA – Tulane responded with a purpose after dropping the first set to College of Charleston, powering through to take the next three sets and earn a spot out of the semifinals and into the 2018 NIVC championship game. The Green Wave (29-8) will travel to Iowa State (20-13) for the final, which will be held at 7:30 ET on Tuesday, Dec. 11. Tulane got kills from Erika Hansel and Lexie Douglas to polish off the third set, and the Green Wave hit .333 to ease to victory in the fourth set. Douglas finished with 14 kills; Dayne Kern added 13 kills, and Kayla Dinkins added 11 kills. Kaylie McHugh chipped in with 24 digs. The Cougars (24-12) got 17 kills from Devon Rachel; Lauren Freed had 13 kills and 10 digs, and Kennedy Madison had 10 kills. Allison Beckman closed with 42 assists and McKala Rhodes finished with 20 digs.  IOWA STATE 3, UNLV 1 (31-29, 25-19, 13-25, 26-24)
Ames, IA -- Iowa State prevailed in a marathon first set against UNLV, then powered to the victory behind 24 kills from Jess Schaben, putting the Cyclones into the championship match of the 2018 NIVC. Iowa State (20-13) will face Tulane or College of Charleston in the final. Kills from Schaben (a three-time first team all-Big 12 selection) and Candelaria Herrera provided the winning margin in set one, and ISU was in control for most of set two, leading 14-6 and pulling away after UNLV got within 17-13. UNLV (22-12) commanded the action set three and had a 23-20 lead in set four before the Cyclones fought back, hitting .429 overall in the set. Schaben also had 13 digs; Piper Mauck closed with 41 assists, and Izzy Enna had 19 digs. The Rebels were paced by Mariena Hayden, who had 10 kills, 18 digs and eight aces. Thea Sweder had 11 kills, and Elena Ivanova added 19 digs.  UNLV 3, PORTLAND 1 (19-25, 25-19, 30-28, 25-20)
Portland, OR – Sophomore Mariena Hayden filled the boxscore for UNLV, finishing with 18 kills, 20 digs and five aces as the Rebels beat host Portland and earned a spot in the NIVC semifinals. UNLV (22-11) will travel to Iowa State for one semifinal. The Rebels used a late 6-0 run to polish off the second set; in a wild third set that required 58 points to decide, the visitors got kills from Hayden and Elsa Descamps to seal the verdict. Descamps closed with 11 kills, and Jillian Berg added 10 kills and 13 digs. The Rebels also had 11 blocks. Portland (20-13) was paced by the 15 kills of Izzy Guzik, while Reghan Pukis had 13 kills. Cali Thompson finished with 40 assists and 10 digs, and Shayla Hoeft added 10 kills. Carey Williams had 23 digs.  COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 3, CLEMSON 0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-19)
Clemson, SC – College of Charleston ran its offense with precision and accuracy, hitting .355 overall and getting 18 kills from Devon Rachel to top Clemson and advance to the semifinals of the NIVC. The Cougars (24-11) will play at Tulane in one semifinal; that match will be held at 8 p.m. ET Saturday, Dec. 8. College of Charleston put together an impressive comeback to take the second set, then jumped to a 6-1 lead the third set before Clemson drew to within 10-9. The Cougars eased back ahead and ended the set hitting .516 to finish the sweep of the Tigers (19-15). Allison Beckman had 42 assists for the Cougars; Kennedy Madison closed with 11 kills. Entering the match, Clemson had led the all-time series between the programs, 8-1. Clemson got 12 kills from freshman Solei Thomas and 11 kills from Brooke Bailey. Gabby Easton had 37 assists for the Tigers, who have two juniors on their roster with te rest being sophomores or freshmen. TULANE 3, VALPARAISO 1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-13, 25-20) New Orleans, LA – Tulane hit a robust .366 on the night and backed it up defensively with 13 blocks, taking control and taking down Valparaiso to earn a spot in the semifinals of the NIVC. The Green Wave (28-8) will host College of Charleston in one semifinal, set for 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 8. This is the team’s first postseason appearance since 2009, and they are now 17-2 at home in 2018. Tulane hit .609 and made just one error in cruising to a win in set three; set four was tied at 12-all before the home team cranked up the intensity and secured the win. Erika Hansel had 17 kills with just two errors for the Green Wave. Dayna Kern added 12 kills, Taylor Henigsman had 33 assists and nine digs, and Kaylie McHugh closed with 17 digs. The Crusaders (27-11) got 21 kills from Katherine Carlson, and Sydney Bronner added 10 kills. Brittany Anderson closed with 44 assists. UNLV 3, PORTLAND 1 (19-25, 25-19, 30-28, 25-20) Portland, OR – Sophomore Mariena Hayden filled the boxscore for UNLV, finishing with 18 kills, 20 digs and five aces as the Rebels beat host Portland and earned a spot in the NIVC semifinals. UNLV (22-11) will travel to Iowa State for one semifinal. The Rebels used a late 6-0 run to polish off the second set; in a wild third set that required 58 points to decide, the visitors got kills from Hayden and Elsa Descamps to seal the verdict. Descamps closed with 11 kills, and Jillian Berg added 10 kills and 13 digs. The Rebels also had 11 blocks. Portland (20-13) was paced by the 15 kills of Izzy Guzik, while Reghan Pukis had 13 kills. Cali Thompson finished with 40 assists and 10 digs, and Shayla Hoeft added 10 kills. Carey Williams had 23 digs.  TULANE 3, VALPARAISO 1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-13, 25-20)
New Orleans, LA – Tulane hit a robust .366 on the night and backed it up defensively with 13 blocks, taking control and taking down Valparaiso to earn a spot in the semifinals of the NIVC. The Green Wave (28-8) will host College of Charleston in one semifinal, set for 8 p.m. ET Saturday, Dec. 8. This is the team’s first postseason appearance since 2009, and they are now 17-2 at home in 2018. Tulane hit .609 and made just one error in cruising to a win in set three; set four was tied at 12-all before the home team cranked up the intensity and secured the win. Erika Hansel had 17 kills with just two errors for the Green Wave. Dayna Kern added 12 kills, Taylor Henigsman had 33 assists and nine digs, and Kaylie McHugh closed with 17 digs. The Crusaders (27-11) got 21 kills from Katherine Carlson, and Sydney Bronner added 10 kills. Brittany Anderson closed with 44 assists.  COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 3, CLEMSON 0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-19)
Clemson, SC – College of Charleston ran its offense with precision and accuracy, hitting .355 overall and getting 18 kills from Devon Rachel to top Clemson and advance to the semifinals of the NIVC. The Cougars (24-11) will face Tulane in one semifinal; the Green Wave will host, with the match going off at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 8. College of Charleston put together an impressive comeback to take the second set, then jumped to a 6-1 lead the third set before Clemson drew to within 10-9. The Cougars eased back ahead and ended the set hitting .516 to finish the sweep of the Tigers (19-15). Allison Beckman had 42 assists for the Cougars; Kennedy Madison closed with 11 kills. Entering the match, Clemson had led the all-time series between the programs, 8-1. Clemson got 12 kills from freshman Solei Thomas and 11 kills from Brooke Bailey. Gabby Easton had 37 assists for the Tigers, who have two juniors on their roster with te rest being sophomores or freshmen.  IOWA STATE 3, NORTH TEXAS 1 (22-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-20)
Ames, IA -- Iowa State dropped the first set and then turned on the gas offensively, hitting .327 overall in moving past North Texas and into the semifinals of the NIVC. Jess Schaben had 26 kills and 11 digs for the Cyclones (19-13), who will face Portland or UNLV in their semifinal. Iowa State hit better than .500 in the second set, then backed it up with a .342 effort in the third set. The Cyclones looked to have the match under control by taking a 10-1 lead in set four, but North Texas rallied, drawing to 11-8 and forcing an ISU timeout. The margin grew as tight as 14-13, but the host team settled in to claim the victory. Candelaria Herrera had 12 kills, and Josie Herbst added 11 kills for Iowa State. Piper Mauck closed with 59 assists, and Izzy Enna chipped in with 18 digs. The Mean Green (19-17) got 15 kills and 14 digs from Valerie Valerian; Karley York closed with 35 assists and 13 digs.  When it came to groundbreaking moments for the Portland volleyball program in 2018, the library was getting pretty packed by the time this past Nov. 30 rolled around.
The Pilots had already won a program-record 12 matches in a row to start the year, and on that fateful Friday they were playing in Round 2 of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, the first postseason berth ever earned by Portland. But the energy and fun of the season was about to be extinguished, as Utah Valley sprinted to a 6-0 lead in the fifth set of their match. The Pilots called timeout, revisited their key theme of the year, and managed a shocking comeback, eventually winning a drama-packed match (25-19, 16-25, 29-27, 27-29, 19-17) to move to Round 3. Portland (20-12) will play host to UNLV (21-11) on Thursday, Dec. 6 with a slot in the semifinals on the line. “The message we put across was the same message from all year – we are in total control of our actions on this next point, and I believe we can win this point. And then, let’s do it again,” said first-year head coach Jeff Baxter, who was a collegiate player himself just seven short years ago. “Momentum exists in your head, and it’s not a real thing. It was tough being in that hole, but we framed it as, we were in control of our actions.” “We had a strong preseason, then conference didn’t go the way we wanted it to, so we made a group decision to go into this tournament with a completely different mindset, to absolutely leave it all out there and prove to ourselves our capabilities,” said senior outside hitter Reghan Pukis, who has a team-high 373 kills on the year. “This team is totally tough, willing to grind, and you saw that against Utah Valley. It doesn’t matter what the score says, we take each point by the point, and work our way forward with relentless dedication.” It’s been an impressive climb up the charts for Portland, which survived an 0-27 season in 2013 and slowly became more notable within the extremely tough West Coast Conference. Baxter, who came in as an assistant in 2016, saw the program stabilize enough to be a .500 proposition, with this year’s burst including a best-ever total of 20 victories. This year has also included WCC losing streaks of four and five matches, so Portland long ago understood there would be slumps and struggles to confront. But the roster, which tips to the younger side, has been resilient. Junior middle Katie Barker (276 kills, .342 hitting percentage, 139 blocks) was an all-WCC honorable mention selection; junior Cali Thompson (10.72 assists per set) had 62 assists against Utah Valley; and sophomore Izzy Guzik has 313 kills. Pukis has been a fundamental voice and physical anchor for it all; her first year in Portland (2016) had her shoulder-to-shoulder with the remaining players who endured that 0-27 team, which gave her a sense of how to bounce back. In 2018, people turned to her regularly for that steadying tone every team needs. “I’d like to think there is some natural leadership, but I’ve been lucky to play on teams that had awesome leaders around me. My dad has been instrumental in developing my sense of leadership; he was in the military, and he and I talk about it constantly, like multiple times a week,” said Pukis, who played at UNLV her freshman year. “What an influential leader would do in that given moment – my dad has been the most instrumental in shaping that, but I’ve watched great leaders when I was younger. And I’ve been on teams with older players who were poor leaders, and I’ve learned from that, too. This season, I’ve learned the importance of interacting with people on an individual basis; not everyone is the same uniform model.” “Reghan has been an absolute workhorse, and been there when we go to her at any point of the match. She’s gone above and beyond, setting the tone with her leadership,” Baxter said. “She’s consistently been there and aware of the reality of where we are as a volleyball team, always helping us upgrade. I know we’ve has some ups and downs in the leadership perspective, and it’s a process. She’s grown into that role at an exceptional rate.” While the thought of Portland volleyball being a factor in postseason play is brand new, the Pilots are hoping it becomes familiar and natural going forward. The difficulty of breaking through the WCC isn’t going away (BYU, San Diego and Pepperdine all reached the NCAA Tournament), but the Pilots are looking to turn that fuzzy sense of momentum in concrete progress. “There was an eagerness early on, and very obviously this team had high goals and expectations of themselves. They are hungry and like to prove people wrong – they have a massive chip on their shoulder,” Baxter added. “We think we have earned the right to continue playing; we were really excited to get this opportunity. No one on this team is ready to be done. They love playing for and with each other. We try not to focus on external things for validation, but this has solidified some things in terms of this being a successful season.” “From Day 1, we said this team would play in the postseason, and we’d do everything we needed to do to be the first (from Portland) to make it,” Pukis said. “It’s great to be part of that historical moment, but my entire time at Portland, it’s been a constant upward trajectory. I think it’ll be much cooler if I can look back in five years, and they’ve been in the postseason ever since. That will be the more lasting, rewarding piece. I want it to become the norm." |
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