The ISU volleyball team still had trouble finding an offensive rhythm on Tuesday night, as its hitting percentage dipped below the .100 plateau for the second straight match.

The Cyclones (0-2) could only muster a .098 hitting percentage against a feisty Creighton defense in a 3-1 (30-24, 27-30, 30-18, 30-21) loss to the Bluejays in front of a crowd of 679 at Hilton Coliseum.

The Bluejays (3-1) dropped 10 aces to the hardwood in the match to lead a powerful serving attack that caused even more troubles for the struggling Cyclone offense.

“Our problems really boiled down to serving and passing,” said coach Christy Johnson. “When you’re making passes too far off the net, you really only have one option, and we didn’t get many good swings at the ball.

“And when you have a setter that isn’t as experienced, that’s even more pressure for her to be running all over the floor chasing down balls.”

Freshman setter Cassie Pratt played well in her second start in place of Kaylee Manns, settling into the role and registering 41 set assists in the match.

“I definitely felt more comfortable this time around,” Pratt said. “After experiencing Hilton Coliseum for the first time, I knew more of what to expect.”

Creighton hit .218 on the match, despite losing a key player. Senior middle blocker Kelly Goc suffered an ankle sprain halfway through the first game.

“They just didn’t give up,” Johnson said. “Even after losing their best player very early, they seemed to use it as inspiration and really took off from there.”

For the second straight match, Iowa State found itself down early but fought back to take game two, behind a six-kill performance from Lauren Cummings in the second game.

After pulling even at one game apiece, the Cyclone offense took a dive in game three, hitting a dreadful -.160 as they were outblocked 7-2 in the game. The Cyclones hung tough for part of game four, but couldn’t get out of an offensive rut, hitting .028 and dropping 17 of 24 final points in the match.

“Sometimes our offense would go on tangents where [Creighton] would keep serving, and we had a lot of trouble passing,” Cummings said. “We just can’t afford to get into ruts against a solid team like that.”

The Cyclones are hoping to snap out of their offensive dilemma this weekend when they travel to Tempe, Ariz., to play four games in three days at the Arizona State Classic.