MINNEAPOLIS — The No. 4 seed ISU volleyball team survived a hostile crowd at the Sports Pavilion, defeating No. 13 Minnesota in four sets (18-25, 25-23, 25-15, 31-29) to advance to the Elite Eight. 

In a setting like the Sweet 16, it’s easy to be rattled. In set one, Iowa State (25-5) struggled with handling the tough serving of Minnesota (20-12).

“You just keep telling them to stay confident with it,” said ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said. “You tell them to get it in the middle of the court. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just get it up so we can set someone.”

Coming into the match, it was well-known that both teams were led by their defenses. The Cyclones showed that they are not only led, but they’re fueled by it as well.

The Cyclones had their season-high in blocks with 16. They were led by Kelsey Petersen with nine block assists.

Following Petersen was Tenisha Matlock with eight and Jamie Straube with seven and one solo block. 

In the first two sets, the Cyclones could not stop Minnesota’s go-to player, Ashley Wittman. She was 10 of 17 and hitting on a .500 clip. 

Then in the following two sets, the Cyclones defense adjusted their block and held Wittman to only five kills on 18 swings. 

For freshman outside hitter Victoria Hurtt, this was not only her first time experiencing NCAA Tournament play, it was her first time in a big-time Sweet 16 atmosphere like this. 

“Of course,” Hurtt said when asked if this was the type of match she wants to play in. “This is what you dream about when you’re a little girl.”

The atmosphere was to be expected for a highly hyped Sweet 16 match, but what wasn’t expected was that the Gophers were playing virtually another home match.

The Gophers had played in the Sports Pavilion all year and just like the crowd they were used to all year, it was mostly Minnesota fans in attendence. 

That only fueled Hurtt’s play. In the deciding set four, Hurtt was the player who was getting the crucial kills. She scored to put Iowa State up 27-26.

Then when the Gophers rattled off two straight points and only needed one more, Hurtt answered back to tie it up. Then Hurtt had the final answer falling to the ground in celebration after she smashed the match-winning kill to make it 31-29. 

“I think we could feed off them, because it was like ‘Oh you want to cheer against us? We’re going to go at it even harder now,'” Hurtt said. 

Usually players go to their coach when in need of answers. In set four the score was tied 29-29.

Senior Kelsey Petersen lined up to serve for the first time this entire season.

This time it was Johnson-Lynch who was looking for an answer from her players.

“I told the team for me personally some years the coach tries to inspire the team,” Johnson-Lynch said. “This year they’ve inspired me quite a bit. It’s been an incredible group.

“For me, they’ve just been very inspirational. This is a special group.”

The No. 4 seed Cyclones will face No. 12 seed Florida State Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. for the right to go to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.