OMAHA, Neb. — Iowa State knew it would face two top 15 opponents this weekend at the Runza/AVCA Showcase, but the Cyclones didn’t know it would be without one of their five returning starters.

In the 21st point of the first match against the No. 13 Florida Gators, junior outside hitter and preseason All-Big 12 honoree Rachel Hockaday came down awkwardly. She left with what the ISU staff believes is a torn left ACL.

Second on the team in kills last season with 341, the Cyclones looked to replace her offense with junior Carly Jenson, who had only 51 kills in her previous two seasons. After falling in the first two sets 25-22 and 25-21, Iowa State appeared to settle down in the third set as it hit .476 en route to a 25-10 win.

“Once we settled down and got into the third game, I thought we played the way we needed to play,” Johnson-Lynch said. “That means handling the ball, passing the ball to a target, playing great defense and keeping pressure on the other team. When we did that, I thought we really started to look good.”

In the fourth and final set, the Gators relied on their returning outside hitter, Callie Rivers, to put away the Cyclones (25-22, 25-21, 10-25, 25-20). Rivers led Florida with a .364 hitting percentage on 10 kills and nine digs for the Gators. Senior outside hitter Victoria Henson and sophomore middle blocker Jamie Straube were the only Cyclones to reach double-digit kills with 11 and 10.

After getting some time to rest and adjust mentally to their new lineup, the Cyclones prepared for a showdown with No. 14 Kentucky, which was swept by No. 2 Nebraska (25-9, 25-14, 25-20) on Saturday.

With Hockaday on crutches on the sideline, Jenson stepped onto the floor for her second career start for the Cyclones. With four kills, three digs and a service ace in the first set, Jenson started the match strong, and the rest of the Cyclones followed suit, winning 25-17 to take an early 1-0 lead.

“I got the nerves out the first game, so it was a lot easier today,” Jenson said.

Despite hitting .364 in the second set, the Cyclones dropped the second set 25-22. Both Iowa State and Kentucky came out of the intermission a bit shaky and hit only .138 and .147. The Cyclones were able to capitalize on late blocks from junior Debbie Stadick, and outside hitter Henson ended the match with two kills in the last five points to give the Cyclones a 25-22 victory.

Looking to end the match in four sets, Straube gave the Cyclones the serve with a solo block at 23-21. After a Kentucky point, Henson finished it all with her match-high 17th kill, giving the Cyclones a 25-22 victory in the fourth set and their first win of the season (25-17, 22-25, 25-22, 25-22). Leading the Wildcats was redshirt freshman Whitney Billings with 15 kills and eight digs.

Another player facing some major nerves in her first match was sophomore setter Alison Landwehr, who started her first match against Florida following the graduation of two-time All-American setter Kaylee Manns.

“I thought Alison did a really nice job tonight, but we’re going to need a little bit more from her when it comes to delivering and locating the ball,” Johnson-Lynch said following the loss Saturday.

After her 35-assist performance in the loss to the Gators, Landwehr answered her coach’s call with a near triple-double against the Wildcats. Landwehr finished her second start as a Cyclone only two digs short of a triple-double, ending the match with 10 kills, 43 assists and eight digs.

“I thought as a team we played more together today as opposed to yesterday,” Landwehr said. “I think that some of the parts of the game that we struggled in yesterday we improved in [today].”

Along with Landwehr, Henson, Jenson and junior Kelsey Peterson all reached double-digit kills with 17, 14 and 11.

“We didn’t necessarily block that much better, I don’t know that we ball-handed and passed any better, but we hit a lot better,” Johnson-Lynch said.

In addition to the number of kills, the Cyclones were able to eliminate more of their errors at the net, hitting .312 against the Wildcats compared to a mere .180 against the Gators on Saturday.

“When you hit for .312, you’re probably going to win unless the other team really goes lights out,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Hitting for .312 says a lot about the job Alison did and some hitters stepping up.”

One of those hitters was Peterson, who had five of her eleven kills in the fourth and final set.

“Kelsey Peterson played really well all night, probably one of the best matches, maybe the best match I have seen her have in her career, so I think that was a big difference for us,” Johnson said.

Dealing with a potential season-ending injury in their first match was not an expectation for the Cyclones this weekend, but Johnson-Lynch was pleased with how the team bounced back and finished its first trip to the Showcase.

“I’m really happy to be going out of here 1-1 rather than 0-2,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I think that’s important for us, and I’m glad we could pull through.”

Iowa State will have four days off before it hosts UW-Milwaukee at 1 p.m. at Ames High School on Friday.