The ISU volleyball team started conference play exactly the way they wanted to on Wednesday night, as the Cyclones (9-3) took down Texas A&M 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 26-24) at Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones took the first two with relative ease, as they hit a solid .310 while holding A&M to a lowly .000.

But the Aggies (5-6), who were ranked two spots ahead of the Cyclones in the preseason Big 12 poll, came out strong in set three intermission after substituting a new setter and libero. They jumped out to an early 13-6 lead over the Cyclones, who were struggling to get their offense in rhythm. Following a time-out, the Cyclones settled down to take 11 of the next 15 points, and were able to hold off the surging Aggies with a 26-24 win.

“Texas A&M started to play better in the third set, and we didn’t respond by playing better ourselves,” said coach Christy Johnson. “We started to get a little sloppy, didn’t pass the ball quite as well, and got stuck in a bad rotation where we couldn’t get a side out. But thankfully we woke up in the end.”

Serving and passing has been the key to an efficient offense for the Cyclones all season, and it showed in the box score on Wednesday. The Cyclones posted 47 digs, 23 in the first set alone, and put down eight service aces in the match. The serving game was able to throw A&M off balance on offense, giving the Cyclones an easier time in digging up the Aggie attack. The Aggies ended up hitting just .062 for the match.

“The first two sets we were nailing all of our passes,” said libero Ashley Mass, who contributed three aces and 18 digs. “Then we started having troubles communicating and got away from the way we normally pass. But we started to relax, forgot about what we had done at the beginning of the set and were able to recover.”

The consistent passing turned in by the back row was able to get setter Kaylee Manns in good position close to the net, giving her the opportunity to set wherever she wanted. The preseason All-Big 12 setter dished out 23 assists in total, and notched nine digs of her own.

“All I had to do was stand at the net and decide where I wanted to put the ball,” said Manns. “I had three options every time I got a pass, and I owe everything to them. This match was won by good passing.”

While the defense may have set up Manns to dish the ball all over the court, the majority of the sets and kills went to red-shirt sophomore Victoria Henson, who hit a blistering .441 on her way to recording 18 of the Cyclones’ 34 kills. Her 18 kills are the most ever by an ISU player in a three-set match during the rally scoring era. The two closest players to Henson in the kill column, Diane Kieger and Jen Malcom, had just four kills apiece.

“She can just put the ball away, plain and simple,” said Manns, of Henson. “She has such a quick swing and can hit so hard that a lot of teams aren’t fast enough to stop her. She puts it straight down or she can hit high off the block and put the ball into the stands, and there’s not much you can do about that as a defender.”

The Cyclones now face their first conference road match of the season this weekend when they head to Lawrence to take on the 6-3 Kansas Jayhawks. The team will return home on Sept. 27 to take on the No. 2 Nebraska Cornhuskers.