The ISU volleyball team picked up their first victory of the season and gained some much-needed momentum for upcoming intrastate rivalries.

The Cyclones (2-4) defeated the Long Island Blackbirds (3-1) on Sunday following their opening 3-1 victory over the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Friday at the Hilton Phoenix/Mesa Challenge.

Those two victories sandwiched two tough losses to New Mexico and Arizona State on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Senior outside hitter Erin Boeve had 17 kills to lead Iowa State to victory over Long Island and finish her all-tournament team performance. Boeve had no fewer than 12 kills in a match this weekend and had 28 kills in a loss to Arizona State on Saturday.

Junior Mary Bisenius had a career-high 11 kills against the Blackbirds as well. In the match against Northern Arizona, senior Lauren Cummings had 17 kills while redshirt freshman Victoria Henson made a career-high 16 kills.

Iowa State was swept by undefeated New Mexico despite a hard-fought battle, losing the first two sets by just two points. The Sun Devils fought back to take down the Cyclones 3-2 after Iowa State led 2-1 through three games.

Along with Boeve’s big match, the Cyclones had three other double-digit kill efforts from sophomore Diane Kieger, Cummings, and junior Jen Malcolm with 15, 12 and 11 kills, respectively.

Iowa State will hit the court against Northern Iowa on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls.