Going to five sets has been a good sign this year for Iowa State — until Sunday. 

This year the team had won both matches when it has been extended to five sets. The Cyclones defeated North Dakota State in five sets in Fargo, N.D., on Sept. 10 and most notably defeated the then-No. 9 Florida Gators in Gainesville on Sept. 5. That undefeated mark was broken on Sunday as No. 10 Texas took the match in the fifth set, 15-8. 

“Overall I felt pretty good,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “I think it was a lot about that third game. We had the opportunity to win that game and I think it would’ve changed the outcome. Texas wasn’t playing very well, and we just didn’t capitalize on it.”

Johnson-Lynch mentioned that the team did not play consistently and that there were stretches of great play and poor play. 

In the second set Iowa State ran out to a 20-10 lead from which Texas could not recover. In that set the Cyclones hit on a .395 clip. They also limited Texas’ runs and had an 80 percent sideout rate. 

In the fifth and deciding set, Texas got out ahead early and took the set along with the match. Texas hit a .353 clip and held Iowa State to a -.056 hitting percentage.

“We got down early and had some shaky plays,” said junior Jaime Straube. “We looked rattled and never got back on track after that.”

Leading Iowa State on Sunday was Jaime Straube. She ended the game with 17 kills on a .533 clip. Straube also helped on the defensive end adding three block assists. 

“We ran a lot of fast stuff,” Straube said. “So I could beat some blockers. I was able to keep the blockers on the other side guessing.”

Behind Straube on offense was senior Carly Jenson. She finished the game with 14 kills and 16 digs, recording another double-double. Tenisha Matlock also recorded nine kills and Hannah Willms added eight. Setter Alison Landwehr added 48 assists putting her at ninth all-time at Iowa State with a career 1,861 assists.

“We take a lot from it. The things we take away from the match are the things we’ve been working on and we know we have to get better at them,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We’ve got to make defensive plays every opportunity that we can. We’ve got to hit our serving zones. Those things we’ve known, but they become more obvious when you play a team like Texas.”

Even with several Cyclones playing well, Sunday was all about Haley Eckerman and her return to the state of Iowa.

Eckerman, a freshman native of Waterloo had a phenomenal game in her first return to home. Eckerman had a game-high 21 kills and also added a solo block, to give her a game-high 22 points overall. She is the first player this season to have more than 20 points against Iowa State.

“She’s incredible,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Going back to watch tape, our block was perfect, our defense was perfect, and she’d still hit the ball where we weren’t. That’s what really athletic and great players can do.”

Being a Waterloo native, naturally Eckerman was recruited extremely hard by Iowa State, but she chose to move south to join Texas. 

“When you’re recruiting someone who could name any school in the country and go play there, you know you’re up against a lot,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We tried to sell the ‘close to home’ and ‘having your friends and family come and watch you’ and our up and coming program, but I think she wanted to see the world a little bit, so we can’t fault her for that.”

Iowa State’s Hannah Willms grew up near Waterloo and went to high school at Dike-New Hartford. Growing up she played club volleyball with Eckerman when she was younger. The only time they competed against each other was in the Cedar Falls Tournament, but not outside that since Eckerman was 4A and Willms was 2A.

“I’ve known her since sixth grade and played club with her,” Willms said. “I never competed against her in volleyball outside of the Cedar Falls Tournament, but we did compete against each other in the high jump in the good-old eighth grade.”

The Cyclones continue their Big 12 play and travel to Manhattan, KS., to compete against Kansas State (13-4, 2-1 Big 12) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. 

“Going on the road in the Big 12, it doesn’t matter who you play that win is huge,” Johnson-Lynch said. “So if we can go on the road and get a win that’s really important to our season.”