When Iowa State swept Eastern Washington in its first match of the weekend, Cyclone fans might have thought it would be the same result for matches against Iowa and Syracuse since all three were unranked and struggling this season.

That all changed when the No. 18 Cyclones (5-4, 0-0 Big 12) needed five sets to beat Iowa and then lost to Syracuse in five the following night to close out the 2012 Iowa State Challenge.

By just looking at the stat sheet, Iowa State should have won by a considerable margin, but setter Alison Landwehr said that will be like many opponents the team will face this season.

“Syracuse is like a lot of teams in the Big 12,” Landwehr said. “We can go in and on paper we look a lot better than them, but it all comes down to how you show up and how you play that game and I think it’s a lesson that we’re really going to take with us.”

Coach Christy Johnson-Lynch described the team as not even looking like itself when the match started, adding that the leadership just wasn’t there.

“Very, very, very disappointed in this,” Johnson-Lynch said after Saturday’s loss to Syracuse. “We needed some leadership and some people to take over a little bit and take some big swings, and we just didn’t have opportunities.”

One of those leaders who wasn’t able to find her groove Saturday night was Jamie Straube. The senior finished just 3-of-13 on kill attempts and Johnson-Lynch decided to sit her for the fifth set against the Orange.

Johnson-Lynch said Straube has shown that she can be one of the best middles in the country, but added that sometimes seniors take on too much to handle.

“Sometimes players — especially when they’re seniors — try to be everything,” Johnson-Lynch said. “You think this is your year and you want to be the best attacker, the best blocker, the best leader and the best teammate and sometimes that can be too much.”

Against Iowa, the Cyclones had six match points in the third set but were unable to execute on any of them as the match went on to go five games. Then against Syracuse, the Cyclones found themselves at match point again, but couldn’t deliver that time either.

Taking matches to five sets isn’t anything new for Iowa State. Its match against Syracuse marks the fifth time in nine matches this season the team has had to play the final frame.

“I don’t know why we keep doing it to ourselves, because we’re pretty tired and it takes a toll on you both mentally and physically,” said Rachel Hockaday. “The fifth set, it can go either way and it’s a lot of swings, it’s a lot of jumping and back-to-back nights.”

When one of the top-ranked teams in the country loses to an unranked opponent like Syracuse, it gives the team the chance to either use it as motivation or let it become a trend.

Some of the greatest teams to date have suffered early losses and went on to do great things, and Landwehr hopes her team can do the same.

“Sometimes it takes a loss to make people really, really step it up and I’m hoping that’s what happens,” Landwehr said.

On a positive note, the team is realizing these deficiencies and areas for improvement early on as opposed to late in the season where there isn’t much time to make changes.

With less than a week until No. 1 Nebraska comes to town along with Baylor a week later to kick off the conference season, that time is limited, but Hockaday said she’d much rather realize these areas now.

“I’d rather lose early in the season than lose later down the road and have time to fix the things we need to fix and get better,” Hockaday said. “[We have] a lot to work on, a lot to improve on, but tomorrow’s a new day and we’re going to get back after it and work hard in practice on Monday.”