Middle blocker Tenisha Matlock remembers hitting the ball, coming down to the ground and looking at Jenelle Hudson, hugging her and saying: “Oh my gosh!”

With that final kill from Matlock, the No. 25 ISU volleyball team had just beaten No. 1 Nebraska for the second time in school history. The victory against the Cornhuskers was also Iowa State’s first win ever against a top-ranked team.

ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said she was “thrilled” for middle blockers Matlock and Jamie Straube, both hailing from the state of Nebraska, for how they played against their home-state team.

“There’s always a little extra fire for them to play Nebraska, yet sometimes it works against them where they get too amped up and they don’t play well,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I was glad to see them keep their composure and just go after it.”

Johnson-Lynch also said Matlock and Straube came to Iowa State as somewhat raw talent but have put themselves in a position to become successful, deserving everything that comes their way.

Nebraska coach John Cook said Iowa State’s play from the middle was what the Cornhuskers had seen before but this time, his squad didn’t have much of an answer for the attacks. 

“They’re the same middles we’ve played the last two years so there’s nothing different,” Cook said. “They’re not doing anything different than they have [before] except they play with great effort and got the ball to their target.”

After struggling somewhat in the Iowa State Challenge, Straube said she came back to practice and worked even harder while having strong support from her teammates.

Straube also said so much of what she does depends on the rest of her teammates that it was nice to have support from them throughout the week leading into the match against Nebraska.

“It was a huge win for us,” Straube said. “I was happy that we beat the No. 1 team, and that’s awesome, but I was more happy with the way we played and came out and just worked hard.”

Johnson-Lynch said she has been impressed by Straube’s resiliency from match to match after struggling in the beginning of this season.

“She’s a tough kid and she perseveres and fights,” Johnson-Lynch said. “She showed tremendous courage after the Friday match against Illinois. She was bad but came back and fought and played great on Saturday. You don’t do that unless you are someone with courage, and I think that’s what she is.

“I’ve got faith in her, and she continues to fight no matter the situation and show really good leadership as a senior.”

Matlock said it means a lot to her to beat her home-state team and that she tries to be a leader by being vocal on the court in hopes of elevating not only her performance, but the rest of the team’s as well.

Matlock feels her vocalization calms down the rest of the team if the pressure at the moment is high.

“I think it just makes them laugh and makes them forget about any error that they had,” Matlock said with a laugh. “It’s just me. I remember one fan came up and asked if [the coaches] tell me to get excited like that and I said no, and that it was just me. I’m very goofy and very emotional.”