Chalk up another sweep for the ISU volleyball team.

The No. 8 Cyclones (23–4, 15–3 Big 12) took down Kansas (15–12, 7–10) in straight sets (25–17, 25–20, 25–20) Wednesday night in Hilton Coliseum.

The ISU defense narrowed its defensive focus early by shutting down Kansas outside hitter Karina Garlington and keeping her out of action.

“We went into the match knowing she was one of their best attackers, and we had to make sure our block was always closed on her,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “I’m glad we could go and execute stopping a really good hitter.”

Garlington finished the match with only one kill on 10 attempts with four errors, giving her a hitting percentage of -.300.

Iowa State was able to outblock the Jayhawks 8–6, which is much closer than the 13–2 margin the Cyclones held in the last meeting between the teams.

“We blocked decently, but there were times where we weren’t as aggressive as we could have been,” Johnson-Lynch said. “They had a little bit better feel for what we like to run, and I feel like they did a good job focusing on our hitters.”

Offensively, the Cyclones looked more than aggressive. Hitting .296 as a team and holding Kansas to .161, the Cyclones were hitting freely for much of the match.

“It was easy to get kills on the outside because we were hitting against one blocker tonight,” said junior outside hitter Victoria Henson, who finished with a match-high 13 kills.

Thanks to sophomore middle blocker Jamie Straube hitting .500, the Kansas block had to focus on more than one spot on the court.

“At times they were committing on our middles, and that allowed our outsides to hit one on one,” Johnson-Lynch said. “When our outsides can hit one on one, they’re pretty good at putting the ball away.”

The beginning of the match was no indication of how the Cyclones would finish. Kansas jumped out to an early lead in the first set, leading as much as 7–3 at one point. A pair of five-point runs would get Iowa State back in the game and put it in the driver’s seat for the rest of the set.

“Big blocks and big kills are momentum starters,” Straube said. “You want to make a big play and let that energy pass on to your teammates.”

The second set saw Iowa State’s defense start to give in. After being down early, Kansas quietly stuck around and brought the score to 23-20 after trailing by as much as eight in the set.

“They were kind of mixing it up a little bit,” Henson said. “We were kind of playing a guessing game but then decided to just go after it and hit the ball.”

The third set was back and forth until a Kansas serving error sparked a 3–0 ISU run. More Jayhawk service errors and Iowa State’s tight play at the net would eventually end the match.

“Kansas has a lot of weapons, but I think we did a pretty good job of adjusting considering they were running so many plays,” Straube said.

Sophomore outside hitter Rachel Hockaday recorded 10 kills in the match, making it her seventh-straight in double figures. Straube finished with nine kills while fellow middle blocker Debbie Stadick had eight. Junior libero Ashley Mass and sophomore defensive specialist Caitlin Mahoney each recorded double-digit digs with 12 and 10. Kaylee Manns had a match-high 38 assists for the Cyclones.

Kansas outside hitter Allison Mayfield and middle blocker Paige Mazour paced the Jayhawks with 10 kills apiece while Mayfield also led the team with nine digs.

The Cyclones will be back in action when they head on the road for the final time this season against Missouri on Saturday.