When Jamie Straube, senior middle-back for Cyclone volleyball, arrived at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday to face Texas Christian, she knew she would be playing for something more.

The previous Wednesday, Straube sat the third and fourth sets against Kansas with a negative hitting percentage. The No. 19 Cyclones (8-5, 2-1 Big 12) lost the match against Kansas, so the senior was determined to make sure that result didn’t happen again.

“I had to prove it to myself, and I had to prove it to my players that I’m better than this,” Straube said. “I’m going to show you guys that I’m going to bounce back from having a rough night, and I’m not going to let it defeat me; I’m not going to let it get me down.'”

Straube led Iowa State in the number of kills with 12 on Saturday en route to a 3-0 sweep of conference newcomer TCU (13-3, 2-1). Her .524 hitting percentage was a jump from the -0.083 Straube posted against the Jayhawks earlier in the week.

The quick turnaround isn’t new to Straube either. When the Cyclones faced Syracuse a few weeks prior, Straube sat out the fifth set but bounced back in dramatic fashion with a big night against Nebraska in the school’s first win against a No. 1 team.

After that performance, ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said she had no doubt in her mind she would see a similar result.

“She’s a tough kid, and she realizes she struggled [Wednesday] night, and I think she’s able to kind of forget and let go and move on,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We felt just because of the way they block — we felt like she could be successful against this team. I think that got her really excited, and she went off.”

Kristen Hahn, ISU volleyball defense specialist and libero, finished with 15 digs for the Cyclones on an afternoon where just about everyone contributed in the category.

Normally fans see Hahn getting the team going and encouraging her teammates to get back up after a rough play, but Hahn said Straube didn’t hesitate in doing so in the slightest.

“She was really aggressive, and I just felt like she wasn’t thinking as much,” Hahn said. “There was never an ounce of worry on her face, and I think if she can find that consistency, she’s going to do great.”

That aggressive mentality was evident Saturday. Of Straube’s 12 kills, a handful came when she called for the ball and wanted to terminate it herself.

Hahn said Straube’s play translated to kills for her opponents as well, making her rebound match even better than the final stat line.

“Even if she’s not set the ball, she’s holding the block, and that’s leaving [Mackenzie] Bigbee wide open or that’s leaving [Victoria] Hurtt or [Rachel] Hockaday wide open on the outside, so that’s really big,” Hahn said.

After the match, one of the first things Johnson-Lynch told the media was that blocking still needed to improve.

While Straube did acknowledge she was happy with her offensive performance and her ability to bounce back so quickly, she said her blocking is what she needs to be focusing on.

“Alison [Landwehr] was putting up great balls; we got in a really good passing rhythm early so that really helped,” Straube said. “But for me I’ve got to block more balls.”