Before this season, the ISU volleyball team had never been to a regional final in the 35-year history of its program.

Through the first two sets of their regional semifinal against Oregon on Friday, it looked like the Cyclones (22-12) would not reach that goal in 2008 as well. After being dominated in the first two sets, Iowa State stormed back to reach the Elite Eight for the first time ever with a 3-2 (17-25, 11-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-9) win over the 11th-seeded Ducks (25-9).

Coach Christy Johnson said her team has had some impressive wins in her four years in Ames but this one was clearly the biggest.

“To advance to the Elite Eight is just something special,” Johnson said. “Not a lot of programs get to experience this. We just hung in there, persevered, stayed aggressive and didn’t give up.

“I think we all feel fortunate to come out of that match; I’m not really sure what to say,” Johnson said.

The win was over the highest ranked opponent in school history. Oregon was ranked seventh in the latest AVCA poll and gave the Cyclones their most wins in a season under coach Christy Johnson.

“I think when our backs are against the wall, we play harder,” said senior Jen Malcom. “We were just saying that we had to keep grinding it out.”

Iowa State had five hitters in double figures in the match, three of whom were freshmen. Sophomore Victoria Henson led the team with 18 and freshman Rachel Hockaday had a double-double with 12 kills and 10 digs. Freshman Kelsey Petersen followed with 11 kills while Malcom and freshman Debbie Stadick both had 10.

Sophomore Ashley Mass had 20 digs and junior Kaylee Manns had her third straight double-double with 54 assists and 14 digs while breaking her own ISU single-season assists mark.

Due to the lopsided first two sets, the statistical advantage on many fronts went to Oregon. The Ducks outhit the Cyclones .272 to .196, partially thanks to a 17-6 advantage in blocks. Iowa State did hold a 70-69 advantage in digs, while Oregon had a 9-8 advantage in service aces.

Johnson said she felt the win was more of a great mental effort than a physical effort.

“We pretty much got soundly beat in every category and I think that was largely a reflection of games one and two,” Johnson said. “I think we have a very mentally tough team and we have some great leaders that don’t give up and aren’t afraid. I think I’ll have to go back and watch that match to figure out what all happened.”

Iowa State trailed nearly the entire first set but was able to get within 18-15. Oregon, however, took seven of the last nine points to jump on top early.

The second set was much of the same, with the Ducks jumping out to a 7-2 lead. The Cyclones drew within 12-8 but Oregon won the next nine points — four coming on blocks — and used that momentum to take that 2-0 lead at intermission.

“I would say in games one and two there was a lot of frustration. Things weren’t going our way, and last weekend, they had,” Manns said. “When we went in, we talked about how we need to show everyone that we should be here and we’re not just here for any reason. Somebody didn’t just put us here in this tournament, we earned it.”

The Cyclones took a 6-2 lead early in the third set and carried the lead all the way until Oregon knotted the set at 19. Iowa State took the next four points, though, with the last coming on a service ace from freshman Caitlin Mahoney and then Mass ended the set with another ace.

The fourth set was the most hotly contested of the match, with 15 ties and four lead changes and neither team leading by more than three points at any time. The set was tied at 22 before a dump from Manns, a hitting error by the Ducks and a block from Stadick and Manns sent the match to the deciding fifth set.

“We came out really well, but coming back out, we’ve had a tendency all year to let down and they got hot and put pressure on us,” said Oregon coach Jim Moore.

Iowa State stayed hot and dominated the fifth set, hitting .650 with 13 kills. Five of those came from Henson and the other eight all came from freshmen. Henson had four kills in five points to give the Cyclones a 9-3 lead in the set. After Oregon got within 13-8, Petersen put one down for a sideout and then Mass finished a comeback for the ages with another ace.

“Our freshmen were great. They started out a little tentative, just like the rest of our players,” Johnson said. “I thought they got more aggressive as the match went on. I thought Kelsey Petersen took some huge swings for us and played really well during the big points.”

Iowa State will take on conference foe and third-seeded host Texas at Gregory Gym at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. The match will be televised on ESPNU.

“We know pretty much what they have and they know pretty much what we have,” Johnson said. “I don’t think there will be a lot of surprises and it’s just going to be about executing.”