A rollercoaster regular season and a post-season run that made school history sums up 2008 Cyclone volleyball.

Iowa State finished 22-12 overall, 11-19 in the Big 12 and ended ranked 12th nationally after the NCAA run to the Elite Eight.

The memorable season began for Iowa State at the Panther Invitation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Cyclones opened up with a win over Illinois State, a loss to UW-Milwaukee and a sweep over Mississippi to win the tournament in a tiebreaker.

Next, the Cyclones beat Creighton in a comeback and senior Jen Malcom broke the school record for hitting percentage in a game with .789. Malcom’s night included 15 kills and no errors on 19 attempts at the net.

Northern Iowa handed Iowa State its first lost to an in-state rival of the season, but the Cyclones bounced back with a home tournament sweep. Iowa State defeated Iowa, Drake and Xavier 3-0 to take the tourney title and enter conference play on a high note.

After an expected win in conference play against Texas A&M, Iowa State hit a cold stretch in the Big 12 of four losses in a row, two of which were against No. 3 Texas and No. 2 Nebraska. The other two losses included five-set matches against Kansas and Missouri.

The losing streak must have impacted the Cyclones, who never lost more than two games straight the rest of the season.

“There were several matches throughout the season that we knew we had to win to get into the NCAA tournament,” said head coach Christy Johnson.

Five-set matches were a struggle for the Cyclones, who went 0-4 after the loss at Colorado, until finally beating No. 13 Kansas State for their first five-set victory. In the following game against Missouri, Johnson notched her 70th career win at Iowa State and led the Cyclones to a sweep over the Tigers.

Iowa State finished out the regular season schedule with a 3-0 win over Kansas at home. After the regular season came to a close, the Cyclones heard the news of their spot in the NCAA tournament for the third straight year.

The post-season run began with a win over Northern Iowa and then an upset over No. 6 Minnesota on its home court. Sophomore outside hitter Victoria Henson’s 50 kills in the first two rounds led all NCAA players in games one and two.

Next the Cyclones battled back from a 2-0 deficit over Oregon in the Sweet 16 match to send Iowa State to its first-ever regional final. ISU fell to No. 3 Texas on its home court after taking a set from the Longhorns.

“Playing in the Big 12 Conference all year gave the younger players a chance to play in pressure situations similar to what playing in the NCAA Tournament is like,” Johnson said.