MINNEAPOLIS — The ISU volleyball team advanced to the Elite Eight on Friday night, as it beat Minnesota in four sets (18-25, 25-23, 25-15, 31-29) at the Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis.

“This is the kind of match you hope you play, where two great teams are battling and it is point for point the whole time and you just try to outlast each other,” said ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “There are a lot of great athletes on that team and we are very fortunate to have scored just a couple more points than they did.”

The No. 19 Golden Gophers (20-12, 11-9 Big Ten) took the first set behind a fast start from outside hitter Ashley Whittman, who finished the night with 15 kills while attacking at a .286 clip.

Johnson-Lynch said her team’s poor passing prevented them from getting into their offensive groove in the first set.

“We just got served off the court the first game so we never could get going,” Johnson-Lynch said. “It forces our offense to just keep the ball in play and they can come at you with two or three options.”

Iowa State took back momentum with set wins of 25-23 and 25-15 in the second and third sets as the front line was able to slow down the Gopher attack.

The Cyclones notched 16 blocks in the game, led by a career-high of nine block assists for senior Kelsey Petersen, followed by Jamie Straube, who one solo and seven block assists, and Tenisha Matlock with eight block assists.

“When we get a block, it’s the most exciting thing you can do and it really pushes us forward,” Petersen said.

The fourth set was a see-saw the entire time, as the two teams traded leads, each unable to pull away when given an opportunity.

ISU freshman outside hitter Victoria Hurtt said the Cyclones were able to feed off the energy of the announced crowd 3,237 despite the fact that it was heavily pro-Minnesota as the Gophers played in their home gym.

“The atmosphere and the crowd were great. I think we could feed off them because it’s like, ‘OK, if you’re going to cheer against us, we’re going to go even harder,'” Hurtt said.

Hurtt, who finished the night with 15 kills while hitting at a .353 clip, was able to drive the final dagger home on the last kill of the match and put the Cyclones in the Elite Eight with a 31-29 win in the fourth set.

“She might be the most competitive player I’ve ever coached and if you saw her body language after she got a kill, she isn’t afraid of anything and that is a rare, beautiful thing to have,” Johnson-Lynch said of Hurtt. “She doesn’t care how big the block is or if she’s had five errors, she’s going to keep coming at you.”

The Cyclones will now face Florida State (27-6, 18-2 ACC) in the Elite Eight on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. in Minneapolis.