Though the Cyclone volleyball team recorded a season-high hitting percentage on Wednesday en route to a 3-0 sweep of the Missouri Tigers, its defense is what shined.

The No. 16 Cyclones (10-2, 1-0 Big 12) neutralized one of the Big 12’s best hitters, holding Missouri senior middle blocker Brittney Brimmage to just two kills on -.188 hitting percentage.

Brimmage had previously been hitting the ball and .422 clip, which is best in the conference, with 153 total kills.

“She gets up very fast and she’s very quick so your block has to adjust to that and be up quicker than you normally would,” said ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “We just tried to make good guesses of when she would be getting the ball and then take away what she likes to do.”

Cyclones outside hitter Carly Jenson said that there had been an emphasis on slowing Brimmage down when they scouted the Tigers.

“Just from watching tape, she just hits hard and across, and she’s been playing awesome but we just got a good block set up on her, and we stopped her,” Jenson said. “We have been working on our block all week so you could just tell we were getting more touches on the ball, and it just felt more cohesive.”

The sweep snapped a two-match losing streak for the Cyclones who were reeling after being swept themselves in consecutive matches against the UNI Panthers and Nebraska.

“I think we’re all really excited to be at home, and it just kind of got our energy going,” Jenson said. “Last week was rough, and we just kind of had to get that out of our system and start a new week.”

Jenson led the Cyclones with 13 kills and 11 digs while hitting at a .300 clip, followed by freshman Hannah Willms with 11 kills and Tenisha Matlock with seven.

“There aren’t many nights when everybody hits a high percentage, usually there’s a couple good and a couple off,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I think just making good attack decisions, we’ve been working on certain things with our middles, hitting high and outsides mixing up some line and some cross.”

The win puts Johnson-Lynch at 135 for her career as the Cyclones’ volleyball coach, tying her with Vicki Mealer for the most in school history.

The Cyclones will be back in action on Saturday in Lubbock to take on Texas Tech.