They certainly had their chances to get the job done.

Despite holding leads of four of more points in each of the final three sets Wednesday night, the ISU volleyball team just couldn’t get the ball to roll the right way in its Big 12 opener.

In a wild back-and-forth match against Nebraska, the the Cyclones saw numerous opportunities slip through their hands in a tough 3-1 (25-22, 24-26, 25-23, 28-26) loss to the fourth-ranked Cornhuskers (9-1, 1-0).

“I thought everyone had a lot of fight in them, but just a few points here and there went the wrong way,” said sophomore setter Alison Landwehr. “It’s really frustrating, but that just makes us want to practice harder and get those points next time.”

No. 11 Iowa State (7-2, 0-1) stormed back after facing two set points in the second set to win the final four points, but let an 18-12 lead in set three and a 24-20 lead in set four go by the wayside.

Even with the loudest capacity crowd of the season at Ames High on hand and five chances to send the match into a fifth set, the Cyclones still couldn’t get themselves over the hump.

With what is obviously a painful loss, coaches and players were still able to find several bright spots after running step for step with one of the perennial powers in the country.

“We played really well,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “This is one of the best teams in the country and I felt like we gave them the best shot we had. I know we’ve got a little more in us, and I’m disappointed that we lost, but not disappointed with how we played.”

Iowa State’s outside hitters turned in another quality match despite a slow start, as Victoria Henson led all players with 19 kills on a .282 hitting percentage, followed by Carly Jenson’s 17 kills on a .289 clip. Jenson also added 17 digs, giving her career highs in both kills and digs.

But no matter how efficiently the Cyclone defense and transition set up their offense, they had one of the biggest set of blockers in the nation waiting for them at the net. 

With four of their seven hitters standing above 6-foot-3-inch, the Huskers owned play at the net all night, tallying 17 blocks in the process.

“They’re huge,” Johnson-Lynch said. “They’re such a big physical team, and there’s not a spot where you can look across the net and say ‘They’re terrible blocking there, let’s go after them.'”

The Cyclones also found difficulty in creating a successful block of their own, as Nebraska’s tricky 6-2 offense gave them fits on several occasions.

With three hitters in the front row at all times, it wasn’t uncommon for one of Nebraska’s powerful hitters to get a one-on-one with an ISU blocker.

And with a hitter like Nebraska’s 6-foot-5-inch opposite Lindsey Licht, it’s hard to get a stop when you’ve only got one pair of hands above the net. The Cornhusker senior had a team-high 15 kills in the match.

“She’s a great player and hard to prepare for,” Johnson-Lynch said. “She’s a senior and was their go-to, and she stepped when they needed her.”

The first conference road match of the season now awaits the Cyclones on Saturday afternoon as they travel to Columbia to face Missouri (9-2, 1-0). 

The Tigers swept Texas Tech (2-8, 0-1) on Wednesday night. First serve for Saturday is scheduled for 3 p.m.