The winning streak stretched to 11 matches and Iowa State advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the sixth time in seven seasons on Thursday night, but it wasn’t easy. 

No. 15-seeded Iowa State (21-7, 13-3 Big 12) beat Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (25-7, 12-4 Summit League) in five sets (25-11, 23-25, 22-25, 25-13, 15-7) in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Hilton Coliseum. It was the start to the Cyclones’ seventh consecutive appearance in the tournament. 

Advancing to the second round was a bumpy road. 

“We were a little caught off guard and surprised by how many times they kept the ball alive,” said ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “We expected a kill or we expected a block and they managed to bring the ball up and put it back over the net more times than we were expecting.”

After winning the first set against the Mastodons 25-11, the Cyclones fell behind in the second set by as many as nine points and were never able to battle back, losing 25-23 to go to intermission tied 1-1.

Fort Wayne carried its run to the third set as it led the majority of the match, including 19-15 before Iowa State took a timeout. That wasn’t enough to aid the Cyclones, however, as they lost the third set 25-22.

The fourth set was a turnaround for Iowa State as it beat Fort Wayne handily, 25-13, to force a match-deciding fifth set. The Cyclones hit .516 in the fourth set and held the Mastodons to a .056 hitting percentage. 

“Everyone was feeling a little pressure,” said setter Alison Landwehr. “We had to come back a little more relaxed and a little more fun in that fourth set. We definitely kind of took off, got some momentum going and carried it into the fifth set.”

With its season on the line in the fifth set Iowa State jumped out to a 7-3 lead before Fort Wayne stopped play with a timeout. The Cyclones continued to roll out of the timeout and managed to escape a first round exit with a 15-7 fifth set victory. 

Freshman Andie Malloy struggled at times in the win, going 11-of-27 in kills, and didn’t play in the final two sets of the night. Johnson-Lynch’s message to her freshman is to move forward. 

“My message to Malloy, and I haven’t talked to her yet, is don’t worry about it,” Johnson-Lynch said. “So many times this year she’s come through. They were serving tough, and I don’t know many people who could have held up under that.”

The Cyclones advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament on Friday at Hilton Coliseum where they will face North Carolina. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m.