Iowa State earned its second win over a ranked opponent on Saturday. The No. 16 Cyclones knocked off the No. 22 Oklahoma Sooners 3-1 (25-23,17-25, 25-22,25-19).

The Lowdown

The Cyclone offense was firing on all cylinders as four players finished with double-digit kills. Junior middle back Jamie Straube and senior outside hitter Carly Jenson led the way with 14 kills each.

Sophomore middle back Tenisha Matlock and sophomore outside hitter Hannah Willms contributed 13 kills each. Iowa State finished with a .280 hitting percentage compared to Oklahoma’s .157.

Despite the victory, coach Christy Johnson-Lynch felt that the team could have played better.

“It wasn’t very pretty,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We outlasted them a little bit. We were able to dig out some balls and match them defensively. We executed some things well, but I felt like we got a little spooked at times.”

Jenson finshed the match with a .101 hitting percentage, but her kills came in key moments for the Cyclones. She had four in the fourth set to help the Cyclones finish off the Sooners.

Johnson-Lynch was impressed with the play of Willms. Willms had been struggling as of late and seemed to get into a comfort zone during the match.

“I loved her response tonight,” Johnson-Lynch said. “She’s been struggling, but she came back aggressive and confident. That’s hard to do when you’ve had a couple bad matches.”

Turning Point

The turning point came in the first set. With the Cyclones up 23-22 and Oklahoma, gaining ground, Matlock came up with a kill to give the Cyclones some breathing room and led to them taking the first set.

Oklahoma would go on to take the second game, but Matlock’s point to help the Cyclones win the first set was key. Had the Sooners taken the first set, Iowa State would be forced to climb out of an 0-2 hole.

X Factor

Tenisha Matlock – Iowa State middle back.

Matlock set a career high in kills with 13. This topped a 12-kill performance against Cincinatti earlier in the season. Matlock came in averaging 1.76 kills per set this season. She averaged 3.25 kills per set in the victory over Oklahoma.

“She’s a tremendous athlete,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Sometimes Oklahoma had two blockers up on her and she was able to get kills over their blocks. That just shows you what kind of athlete she is.

By the numbers

13: Number of kills by middle back Tenisha Matlock and outside hitter Hannah Willms

14: Number of kills by outside Hitter Carly Jenson and middle back Jamie Straube

54: Number of assists by setter Alison Landwehr.

Post Game Chatter

“Each person did their own role and didn’t do more than they need to. I think that’s what worked out so well,” Willms said about team balance.

“I never really felt like a freshman this year, but I definitely feel more comfortable in the game now,” Willms said about growing into her position.

“They were just getting after it. I think our middles did an awesome job. We were trying to key on a quick transition and I think we were successful in that mainly.” Landwehr said about performance of the hitters.

Up Next

In their next match, the Cyclones will host Baylor at Hilton Coliseum at 6:30 p.m. Baylor sits at 14-3 overall and 3-3 in conference play