ISU coaches, players and fans spent the early part of their weekend taking in a full serving of college volleyball.

The Cyclones hosted the Iowa State Challenge at their temporary residence, the Ames High gymnasium.

Florida International, South Dakota State and North Dakota State joined the host Cyclones for a busy weekend that included four matches for Iowa State within a 32-hour span.

“It’s a grind for sure,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “You just watch so much volleyball in one week to prepare for four teams, its very difficult.”

Iowa State kicked off the weekend with a non-conference match against UW-Milwaukee (2-1) on Friday afternoon.

Sophomore middle blocker Jamie Straube led Iowa State to a sweep (25-15, 25-14, 25-18) of the Panthers with a career-high 15 kills while hitting at a .545 clip. As a team, Iowa State hit .400, thanks in large part to sophomore setter Alison Landwehr’s match-high 38 assists.

Iowa State then began play in the Iowa State Challenge on Friday evening against the North Dakota State Bison.

Senior and returning All-American outside hitter Victoria Henson became the first Cyclone this season to eclipse the 20-kill mark with 22 as her efforts boosted the Cyclones to a four-set (25-11, 21-25, 25-14, 25-17) victory over the Bison.

“[Henson] absolutely took over the match at the end and that’s really exciting to see,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I think all great teams need that type of player who can just take over a match, and she rose to the occasion tonight. We really needed her and she came through big time.”

With many teams avoiding her early on this season, Iowa State’s other returning All-American, senior libero Ashley Mass, bolstered the Cyclones’ defensive efforts with a season-high 24 digs.

Halfway through its volleyball-filled weekend, Johnson-Lynch’s squad began Saturday against South Dakota State.

For the second time this season, Iowa State had four players with double-digit kills, led by Henson — who also led the team in digs with 14 —  and junior Carly Jenson with 13 apiece en route to a victory (25-17, 26-24, 25-22) over the Jackrabbits.

Although her squad came out victorious, Johnson-Lynch was not entirely pleased with her team’s performance against SDSU.

“I thought we were a little sloppy,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I thought we got outworked by the other side, so I wasn’t real pleased with the overall intensity and effort out of it. We hit decently, we served decently, but our ball handling wasn’t up to par. I just don’t think the intensity was there on our side of the match.”

In the final match of the weekend against Florida International, Johnson-Lynch nearly cleared the bench as 13 of the 14 active Cyclones saw significant playing time in Iowa State’s 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-20) victory over the Panthers.

“We really wanted to play some other people this weekend, not just for playing time but to actually see if this [player] is a potential sub down the road,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Whether another player is struggling, whether we want to make some blocking switches, whatever it is we wanted to get some other people in there and see if we could be a little more creative.”

The only two Cyclones to not see the court were junior outside hitter Rachel Hockaday, who is out for the season with a knee injury, and freshman outside hitter Hannah Willms, who might be redshirted for her freshman season.

“We’re looking at [redshirting Willms],” Johnson-Lynch said. “With Hockaday going out it makes it a little more difficult, but we’re certainly looking at it and discussing it.”

As for the Cyclones on the court, the Henson-Jenson duo both reached double-digit kills in that match as well, leading the Cyclones with 11 apiece. Henson hit for a .625 clip, leading a Cyclone offensive effort that hit .361 compared to a mere .105 for FIU.

Mass and Landwehr paced the Cyclone defense with 11 and 10 digs while Landwehr earned her first double-double of the season with 32 assists to go along with her dig total.

“I think everyone played awesome, we didn’t miss a beat,” said junior right side hitter Kelsey Petersen. “Everyone played, starter or non-starter, everyone played the same, so that says a lot about our team when anyone can come off the bench and still get a lot of kills.”

In addition to Henson and Jenson, Petersen has been a key contributor in the early going this season. The junior from Kearney, Neb., is fourth on the team in kills with 47 and hit above .600 twice this weekend.

“I think I’m just jumping higher than I did last season because this summer I worked out all summer, I’m jumping higher and hitting harder,” Petersen said.

And her play isn’t going unnoticed by Johnson-Lynch.

“She’s just an exceptional athlete,” Johnson-Lynch said. “On that one-foot takeoff, she is hitting that ball very, very high. I’m just thrilled that she’s playing at whole other level this year.”

Another Nebraska native making her mark on the court early on has been freshman middle blocker Tenisha Matlock. Although she came into the program as a middle blocker, in lieu of the Hockaday injury, Matlock has spent her playing time on the outside and right side.

“She’s kind of our first-off-the-bench type player, whether outside or right side,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We feel like she’s just so physical, she plays so high above the net, and while it might not always be technically perfect she’s just so physical, she can do some really spectacular things out there.”

The 6-foot-2-inch freshman from North Platte, Neb., ended the Cyclones last victory of the weekend with the final two kills in Iowa State’s victory over Florida International.

“I had the biggest butterflies in my stomach but it was so much fun,” Matlock said. “I was just stoked to go in.”

Iowa State (5-1) will begin its rivalry week by hosting No. 22 Northern Iowa at Ames High on Wednesday night. The Panthers (5-1) are coming off a five-set upset victory at No. 8 Minnesota on Saturday.

“Despite graduating some good players, they’re still a great team, so it’s going to be a very, very tough match on Wednesday,” Johnson-Lynch said.

In their final non-conference match of the season, the Cyclones will travel to Iowa City to face a 5-1 Iowa Hawkeye squad on Friday. Both the Northern Iowa and Iowa match times are set for 7 p.m.