Iowa State followed up a win on the road against No. 23 Oklahoma by sweeping Texas Tech (25-14, 25-19, 25-17) on Saturday at Hilton Coliseum.

The No. 13 Cyclones (19-4, 10-2 Big 12) remain second in the Big 12 and No. 3 in the RPI. Coach Christy Johnson-Lynch knows they still can be better.

“I thought we were OK tonight,” Johnson-Lynch said. “It definitely wasn’t our best match. A little out of sync passing and defensively we weren’t as sharp and clean as I’d hoped. We served very well and that’s probably the best thing we did tonight.”

Iowa State was led again by Carly Jenson on offense against the Red Raiders (15-11, 1-10), who kept up her white-hot streak. After nearly matching her career high with 25 kills when she played Oklahoma, she had another 14 on Saturday with nine in only the first set. 

“They were leaving her one-on-one and really following our middles,” Johnson-Lynch said. “That allowed her to really go off offensively.”

Freshman Victoria Hurtt got the start in place of Hannah Willms, who has struggled as of late. Hurtt had seven kills on the night, three of which came in the third set.

Hurtt also added a defensive presence with a few ball tips and one block assist. Johnson-Lynch said the coaching staff believed Hurtt had played well enough to deserve a shot against Texas Tech.

“I’m feeling pretty confident,” Hurtt said. “The coaches put confidence in me letting me play more and letting me start tonight, that was a big up for me.”

Along with Jenson and Hurtt’s totals, middle backs Tenisha Matlock and Jamie Straube both collected seven kills apiece while senior Kelsey Petersen had five kills on a .714 clip. Setter Alison Landwehr also had two kills off of dumps. 

On the defensive side, Straube and Petersen had four block assists each and Matlock added three with a solo block also. Senior Caitlin Mahoney led Iowa State with 16 digs, followed by libero Kristen Hahn with 13 and Rachel Hockaday with nine.

In set one, Iowa State looked almost unstoppable hitting .429 as a team, collecting 17 kills in the first set and only committing two attack errors. Jenson had nine of those kills, a figure that jumps out compared to her average of 4.07 kills per set, which has her at third in the Big 12.

The Cyclones took set two after being tied up at 13 to go into the locker room up 2-0. In the third set, Iowa State found other ways to win with three aces and two blocks in the set.

With the Big 12 standings and NCAA tournament seeding on the line, Jenson made sure she and her team didn’t overlook a Texas Tech team that is last in the Big 12. 

“We were ready, but we didn’t expect them to come out that hard,” Jenson said. “We may have overlooked them a little, but overall I think it was a good game.”

The Cyclones now will travel to Columbia, Mo., to face Missouri on Wednesday. The Tigers are only sixth in the Big 12, but have only lost once at home so far this season.