Finally, a match to put under the “W” column for the ISU volleyball team.

The regular season got underway Aug. 29 for the Cyclones, but after falling to two top 10 teams that weekend, they had to wait for Thursday’s matchup with the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks for another shot at a win.

Omaha kept things interesting early as it trailed Iowa State just 12-10 midway through the first set. The Cyclones stepped up the intensity and scored seven points in a row, including two service aces from libero Caitlin Nolan.

Iowa State didn’t look back, going on to win its first set of the year, 25-17.

“I think it was just our will to win,” Nolan said. “Everybody was like, ‘We’re here for a reason right now. We need to come out strong and we need to finish this game.’”

Omaha hung around even longer in the second frame as it closed the gap to a 15-14 ISU lead. Much like the first set, the Cyclones stepped on the gas and finished off the frame on a 10-3 run to take a 2-0 set lead heading into the break.

The third set told a different story — one of ISU supremacy. Iowa State’s offense, which had steadily improved as the night went on, cruised to a .444 hitting percentage en route to closing out the set 25-15 and the match 3-0.

“It felt really good. It was a lot of fun out there,” said sophomore Suzanne Horner. “We put in a lot of work — we had two practices leading up to this and knew what we needed to work on from [last] weekend and to beat our opponents this week.”

Though the Cyclones can breathe a sigh of relief, having tallied their first win of the season, a new test awaits them in the Tennessee Lady Volunteers on Friday.

Tennessee will pose a threat to Iowa State in ways the smaller, fast-paced Omaha team could not. Tennessee has a taller lineup that has a slower-paced attack.

The large lineup will also impact the game on Tennessee’s defensive side too, as it will have a shot at posting more than the two blocks Omaha tallied.

“It’s a very different team,” said head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “Tennessee’s probably the polar opposite of Omaha. We’ll have to refocus [to] get ready for that.”

Despite a short turnaround, Johnson-Lynch and the Cyclones already know what it will take to get back to .500 on the year.

“It’ll be about staying very sharp on our side, handling the ball well and running a crisp, fast offense,” Johnson-Lynch said. “That’s our goal — to be sharp. To be a little bit sharper than even tonight.”

Iowa State continues its portion of the Iowa State Challenge at 6:30 p.m. Friday when it plays host to Tennessee. 

The Cyclones will then finish off the weekend’s matches with a match against the Northern Illinois Huskies at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Hilton Coliseum.