The ISU volleyball team hung strong against third-ranked Texas (25-19) Wednesday on the road, taking them to extra points in the final two sets with leads late in those sets, but eventually bowed out in a 3-0 (25-19, 27-25, 27-25) loss to the mighty Longhorns.

The Longhorns (7-2, 1-1 Big 12) were able to fight off the Cyclones thanks to an efficient offense, led by Destinee Hooker’s 19 kills on .531 hitting. Hooker also had two solo blocks and three service aces. The Longhorns outhit the Cyclones (9-5, 1-2 Big 12) .358 to .272, while being outdug 42-41 and the blocks between the teams were even at seven.

Iowa State countered with a balanced that featured five players with at least seven kills, led by Rachel Hockaday and Jen Malcom with nine. One of those players was freshman Kelsey Petersen, who had seven kills and two block assists in her first start as a Cyclone. Setter Kaylee Manns ended up with 41 assists and eight digs and libero Ashley Mass extended her double-digit digs streak to 40 matches with 14. Malcom also had a solo block and four block assists.

With the match knotted at five in the first set, Ashley Engle stepped to the service line and served the Longhorns to a 5-0 run and 10-5 lead. Two of those points were service aces and gave Texas a lead that Iowa State was never able to get lower than four. The Cyclones had three blocks in the first set, but Texas was able to serve up three aces and take advantage of three Cyclone service errors.

Iowa State jumped out to a big 6-1 lead in set two but Texas was able to come back and tie it at nine. From that point forward, the biggest lead in the set the rest of the way was two with Texas eventually coming out with a 27-25 win.

 The Cyclones led at 23-21 but Lauren Paolini and Hooker were able to knot the set and a block from Jennifer Doris and an error by Henson ended sent Texas into the intermission with a 2-0 lead. Both teams hit over .400 in the game with Hooker leading Texas with nine kills and Henson leading Iowa State with six and two service aces in the early set run.

Texas jumped out to a 9-4 lead in set three but the Cyclones won eight of the next ten points and took the lead at 12-11 on Malcom’s solo block of a Hooker attack. That lead eventually stretched to 18-14, before Texas clawed their way to take the lead at 22-21. The set went back and forth until, at 25-25, Hooker slammed one to the floor and Henson committed an error to end the match.

The Cyclones return to the court Saturday at Hilton Coliseum against second-ranked Nebraska at 6:30 p.m.