The stands of the Ames High School gymnasium were coated in pink Saturday.

No. 13 Iowa State defeated Texas A&M in an electrifying four-set match (25-22, 21-25, 25-11, 26-24) during its “Dig Pink” match, in which fans were encouraged to wear the color pink to support breast cancer awareness and research as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“Crowds like this, everyone is a little bit more excited today,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “I think it’s a great cause and you want to do well on these kind of nights and show the fans that you appreciate them coming out, so I was glad that we could do that for them. Maybe we didn’t play our greatest, but we figured out a way to win.”

The Cyclones (13-4, 6-3 Big 12) put themselves in some tough situations against the upset-minded Aggies (9-10, 3-6), who managed to sweep No. 11 Texas a month ago in College Station, Texas.

However, despite the missed opportunities and the cutthroat battling back and forth between the teams, Iowa State closed the deal on the Aggies in the fourth set. A booming block by Debbie Stadick and Victoria Henson won the final frame, 26-24.

“Just having everyone here to come support the pink game is great,” said junior Carly Jenson, who recorded a career-high 20 kills. “When everyone gets excited, especially at the end of that fourth game, it just amps us up a little more, gets us going, and I think that’s a great to have everyone out here.”

The 1,676 fans in attendance were privileged to witness to milestones being reached by two different Cyclones.

Senior Ashley Mass, All-American libero, became the all-time leader in digs in Big 12 history during the match, with 2,041, surpassing former Kansas State libero Angie Lastra.

Mass, whose 21 digs gave her a school record 37th career match with 20 or more digs, “digs the pink” theme.

“I think it’s an awesome opportunity for us to showcase a cause like that,” Mass said. “The theme of everyone wearing pink definitely got the crowd excited for the game. Pink is such a bright color that it makes everybody so happy and enthused.”

Henson, a senior outside hitter, also reached a milestone by becoming only the third player in ISU volleyball history to reach 1,500 career kills. The Leavenworth, Kan., native is also leading the Big 12 in kills per set with 4.25.

The Cyclones have hit the road for a match against Colorado in Boulder, Colo., on Wednesday.