Mackenzie Bigbee didn’t realize right away what had happened at the end of the fourth set of No. 18 Iowa State’s match against No. 25 Northern Iowa.

Bigbee, true freshman right side hitter, and Jamie Straube, senior middle blocker, had gone up for a block but hadn’t realized the outcome yet.

“At first I wasn’t sure which side [the ball came down on],” Bigbee said. “But then I saw Jamie celebrating and I just let loose. I was so happy.”

The Cyclones (3-3, 0-0 Big 12) had defeated the Panthers (3-3, 0-0 Missouri Valley) in four sets in front of a crowd of 2,628 Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum.

Although Bigbee had a hand in the match-winning block, she did not put up the numbers that she did on Saturday at Illinois. Bigbee had 11 kills against the Panthers hitting .160.

ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said Bigbee’s performance is nothing for her or the team to be discouraged about, however. 

“Bigbee’s been the woman for us most nights, and she struggled a little bit tonight,” Johnson-Lynch said. “And if a bad night for her is .160, that’s saying something. I thought other people were able to pick up that loss of kills there. I thought she stayed aggressive, and I loved that.”

Bigbee said she was a little jittery in warmups and the Hilton Coliseum crowd was a little overwhelming. But in crunch time when the match was close, she said it was nice to have the Cyclone fans rooting for her instead of against her.

“Having the crowd on the other side, it’s like having another player out there on the court,” Bigbee said. “It really helps you out a lot. I’ve been excited to play at home all week and then coming out and having such a great atmosphere; it really helps pump you up.”

Freshman setter and outside hitter Andie Malloy agreed that the crowd at Hilton and the atmosphere was a nice one to have for her first collegiate home match.

“It was awesome,” Malloy said. “Words can’t describe it. This was an awesome crowd tonight, and it was cool that [the UNI] match was my first one [at home]. It sets the bar really high for the other ones, but it was so fun to play in this gym.”

Johnson-Lynch said she thought all of the freshmen that played for the first time at home in front of a large crowd were solid.

“[Freshman libero Caitlin] Nolan came up with some nice digs and Malloy as well,” Johnson-Lynch said. “You could still see the nerves and the jitters. I’ve seen them play at a higher level, but I’ve seen all of our players play at a higher level. I think they were solid but I think there’s more in them.”

The Cyclones will take the court again at Hilton Coliseum on Friday and Saturday as they host the Iowa State Challenge. Iowa State will take on Eastern Washington and Iowa on Friday night and conclude with Syracuse on Saturday.