After the final point glanced off the hardwood in Minneapolis on Friday evening, the ISU volleyball team was enveloped by a wave of emotions in circumstances it had never experienced before.

Disbelief, anger and disappointment.

They all washed over the Cyclones simultaneously as they slowly came to the realization that, just like that, it was all over until next August.

It was the first time in six trips to the NCAA tournament that Iowa State had failed to advance out of the opening round, but it was only because of its previous high standards that a first-round loss was such a shock.

“You can’t take for granted when you do advance,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “And not that we took for granted the last couple of seasons, but sometimes a loss like this can put things into perspective. You can’t quit working hard as a staff or as a team and you cant take for granted that wins in the tournament are just going to come because we’ve done it before.” 

After tallying a 7-3 record in the last three NCAA tournaments, yearly postseason expectations had become sky high for Johnson-Lynch’s squad.

The Cyclones were one of eight teams nationally to make the Sweet 16 in each of the past three seasons, and a lot of that success can be pinned to the stellar careers of a handful of players.

Because of that high level of play in the tournament, their inability to extend that streak to four now almost seems like a failure.

Last weekend’s five-set loss to Creighton marked the end of an era highlighted by a pair of these outstanding players that will go down as the best players at their position in program history.

And no, that argument isn’t open for debate.

Libero Ashley Mass and outside hitter Victoria Henson played their final matches in cardinal and gold in Minneapolis, ending two phenomenal careers which left impacts that are unlikely to be matched anytime soon.

“I think they’re two of the best players in the country,” Johnson-Lynch said. “And we’re only disappointed in this match because they’ve raised the bar so high. Over the last few years anything less than what we’ve already done is disappointing. They’re the players that brought us to this point in the first place.”

Mass, who leaves Ames with more digs than any other player in the 15-year history of the Big 12 (2,294), was the winner of three consecutive Big 12 Libero of the Year Awards, and last season was the first Cyclone named to the All-America First Team after being a member of the Third Team the previous year.

In November, Henson climbed to the top of the charts as the most prolific hitter in ISU history, setting the program’s all-time career kills record with 1,726. The redshirt senior has been a three-time All-Big 12 First Team member, was the first player in program history to earn the CVU.com National Player of the Week award as a sophomore, and was named All-America Honorable Mention her sophomore year before being named to the Third Team last season.

Another spot on the All-American roster is all but certain for the duo this season thanks to their performances over the past four months.

“We’re really going to miss them a lot,” said junior outside hitter Carly Jenson. “They’ve both been playing since their freshman year, and I’m hoping we can come back from losing them, and I think they will, but they’re going to be tough to replace.”

But replace them they must, and all thoughts are now geared toward next season as the team is fueled by the gut-wrenching sensation they experienced on Friday night. It almost seemed like a fitting end to an already tumultuous season, one that was packed with adversity and its fair share of disappointment.

From the August floods evicting the team from Hilton Coliseum to the loss of team captain Rachel Hockaday for the season due to injury, the Cyclones can only learn and put this rough season behind them with eight months ahead to get things in back order for next year.

The players know it will be a difficult, anxious eight months, but you can be sure that extra motivation is accumulating for all of those returning for next season.

Because none of them ever wants to feel this again.

A brief swan song

With this being my final article as a reporter for the Iowa State Daily, I am honored to be able to commemorate the accomplishments of these two great players I have seen do amazing things during my stay in Ames.

Even after watching them repeatedly over the last five years, I still found myself being continually amazed by the abilities Mass and Henson showcased all the way up through their final match last weekend.

I can’t be grateful enough for players like them and what I’ve witnessed, with all the times I muttered “wow” or “incredible” under my breath as they did things unlike anything else I’ve seen on the court in 15 years of watching volleyball.

Thanks to players like that and coaches like Johnson-Lynch and women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly, I have been absolutely spoiled rotten as a sports reporter at Iowa State.

Being able to observe the growth of this volleyball program and the extraordinary spectacle that is the ISU women’s basketball program from a front-row seat has made my last nine semesters at the Daily soar far beyond my original expectations.

Come to think of it, I may very well be the luckiest sports reporter to ever write for this wonderful newspaper.

It’s abundantly obvious that neither the volleyball nor women’s basketball programs get the amount of credit and respect they deserve, but it’s the special qualities that I saw in them that made me never want to cover anything else.

While following these two spectacular programs, I had the chance to be in the audience for nine different NCAA tournaments in college, seven of which I attended while working for the Daily.

I witnessed some defining moments in ISU athletics, as Alison Lacey’s game-winning 3-pointer against Michigan State in Berkeley and Mass’ match-ending ace against Oregon in Austin are now forever etched in my memory.

I had the rare opportunity to cover an NCAA Elite Eight game in two different sports, and was sent to cover events in places like California, Oklahoma, Ohio, Wisconsin and Texas.

Some amazing job, huh?