Throughout the entire regular season, the Cyclones’ Carly Jenson was the go-to player.

If they needed a big point, she got the set. If they needed to rally, she did it. If they needed an answer, period — she had it. 

The story this postseason, however, is how Jamie Straube has been that go-to, leading Iowa State to its fourth Sweet 16 berth in six years. Her high level of play and leadership on the court haven’t gone unnoticed.

“She’s a great leader. She’s a great competitor. I feel like she’s really embraced the challenge of stepping up at this point in the year and modeling some of that leadership,” said ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch at her news conference Monday. “I think she’s recognized that we need her to step up and she’s done that.”

This postseason, UW-Milwaukee and Miami keyed on stopping Carly Jenson on the outside, which opened up a lot of one-on-one matchups for Straube in the middle. 

She’s definitely taken advantage of those one-on-one opportunities. 

In the past two matches, Straube is hitting on a monster .529 clip while amassing 27 kills. With her kill totals of 15 and 12 in those two matches, it marks the 11th and 12th double-digit kill totals of her junior campaign. 

This postseason, although Iowa State hasn’t dropped a set, the Cyclones are hitting .215 as a team without Straube. She knows how important it is to be peaking as a team and as a player at this point in the year.

“Hard work always pays off,” Straube said. “But to have it pay off now is awesome. Last year, I felt like my peak was more toward the middle of the season. This year, I’m feeling a lot healthier and more confident going into these last couple games.”

Straube has also been a force at the net on defense. She has a total of six block assists and a solo block, leading Iowa State in blocks both matches. 

All teams know they can’t do it alone. Along with Straube playing some of the best volleyball of her career, the Cyclones as a team have been playing some of their best volleyball as well. 

“I think we played the best we’ve played in a while [against Miami],” said junior setter Alison Landwehr. “So I think we can keep playing at that level into this weekend and even play at a higher level [against Minnesota].”

The Cyclones were rewarded for their performances in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament against UW-Milwaukee and Miami, with four players receiving AVCA All-Region Honors. 

Jenson, Straube and Landwehr were all selected to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Central Region Team. Sophomore libero Kristen Hahn was awarded Honorable Mention.

This was Straube’s second-straight AVCA All-Region Honor and the first for Jenson, Landwehr and Hahn. 

The No. 4 seed Iowa State will be leaving for Minneapolis on Wednesday afternoon for Friday night’s 7 p.m. Sweet 16 match.