Two weeks ago, the ISU volleyball team had the season’s end in sight, and was staring down its final four conference matches of the year.

The team needed just one win to qualify itself for the NCAA Tournament, but had trouble getting it.

After two dicey matches against Missouri and Kansas, Iowa State got that victory by narrowly escaping a struggling Kansas team in a five-game thriller in Lawrence last week.

While in the midst of a stretch in which the Cyclones dropped three of four matches, the team knew things had to improve in order to be awarded with an NCAA berth, especially with two matches coming against ranked teams to close out the season.

“Every team goes through a lull at some point in the season,” said coach Christy Johnson. “I felt that we had ours those couple of weeks, where it looked like we had trouble getting motivated.”

The final week of the regular season brought an extra sense of urgency for the Cyclones, with No. 3 Texas and No. 21 Oklahoma making visits to Ames with postseason hopes on the line.

After falling behind 2-0 against Texas, the Cyclones fought back and found themselves tied 2-2, and in a commanding 14-9 lead in game five. But the Cyclones were unable to convert on the next 6 points, and suffered a heartbreaking 18-16 loss.

Their near-miss against Texas only added fuel to the fire for the Cyclones, who throttled Oklahoma in four games in the regular season finale at Hilton Coliseum.

“We were really able to step up our energy this week,” said senior Lauren Cummings.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this team play with so much intensity, and you could really tell a difference. That really helped us towards the end of games when we got to around 27 points, because at times we’ve had a tough time closing out matches.”

With the NCAA Tournament on the horizon, the Cyclones were able to buckle down and get the big win they needed against Oklahoma to all but solidify their spot in the Big Dance.

“It all just came down to us realizing ‘this is it,'” said senior Erin Boeve.

“We knew it was time to get things done. That’s the mentality we should have all year, but it’s a long season and can wear on the team. But we were able to stay focused the last week and went out with a bang like we were hoping for.”

Iowa State finished the Big 12 regular season in fifth place with an 11-9 record, one match behind their 12-8 finish in 2006. But in a conference that has become more competitive over the last few years, it figured to be enough to crack the field of 64.