As the ball rocketed to the floor for match point, players screamed, fans stormed onto the court and the ISU volleyball to-do list became a little shorter.

“We have our list of things we’ve never done before, and that was one of them — we’ve never beat Nebraska at home,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “So it’s nice to check that off.”

No. 25 Iowa State defeated No. 1 Nebraska 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 20-25, 25-21) Saturday to cross off a second feat — the victory was the program’s first-ever against a top-ranked team.

The Cyclones (6-4) got off to a quick start winning the first two sets 25-23, 25-22 to set up the opportunity for a sweep. Nebraska (8-1) played at its best in the third set to avoid the sweep with a 25-20 win.

In the fourth set Iowa State acted quickly, starting the set on a 5-0 run. The Cyclones would lead the set by as many as seven points on their way to a match-deciding 25-21 victory.

With match point in the fourth set, middle blocker Tenisha Matlock slammed down one final kill to secure the victory, and the fans rushed onto the court.

Nebraska coach John Cook felt his team was simply out-played.

“They’re not doing anything different than they have except they play with great effort and dropped the ball to the target,” Cook said of the Cyclones.

Having formerly been Big 12 rivals, Johnson-Lynch said the Cornhuskers always come ready to play.

“I’ve always felt Nebraska really, really prepares for us,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Of most of the teams they play in the season, they don’t want to lose to Iowa State.”

On Saturday, Nebraska did just that for only the second time ever.

With the victory against its former Big 12 foe, Iowa State is now 2-80 all-time in the series. The other lone victory came in 2009 during a five-set thriller in Lincoln, Neb.

“We still have that monkey on our back,” Johnson-Lynch said of the team’s series with Nebraska. “Any time you beat them, you start to believe it’s possible. So next time around you remember we’ve done it before.”

After going 2-1 the previous weekend with a loss to unranked Syracuse at home, the victory proved to be a bounce back in the right direction.

“I was happy that we beat the No. 1 team; that’s awesome,” said middle blocker Jamie Straube. “But I was more happy with the way we played and the way we came out and worked hard.”

The match with Nebraska capped off a difficult preseason for the Cyclones. The team faced top-25 opponents in six of its 10 matches during the first three weeks.

Following some difficult losses, Saturday’s victory acted as a boost to team morale.

“We needed this win not only for record-sake, but also just for confidence,” said outside hitter Rachael Hockaday. “We’ve played a really tough preseason; we’ve played a lot of top teams.”

As the team checked off two more milestones from its list of things to achieve, it found out what is possible.

“I think today is a definite indicator of what we’re capable of,” Straube said. “I think hard work will always pay off — you never know when — and tonight was a huge indicator of that.”