The ISU volleyball team was in trouble Wednesday night. The passing was off, hits went into the block and there was no communication.

Luckily for the Cyclones, Texas Tech was worse.

The difference was that the Cyclones (19-8, 11-6 Big 12) were able to fight through their mistakes and make the most of their opportunities as they pulled out a 3-1 (25-30, 30-20, 30-26, 30-25) victory over the Red Raiders.

“I feel a lot of relief after that game,” said coach Christy Johnson. “I think I aged about 20 years.”

The Cyclones fell into a quick hole, giving Texas Tech (11-15, 4-13 Big 12) seven points before getting on the board. A lack of passing and fluid play never allowed Iowa State to get into a groove. The early deficit proved insurmountable, as the Cyclones fell 30-25.

“I was very concerned,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t just the play. I just felt emotionally we didn’t look that into it or fired up.”

The second game was an entirely different story – it looked as if the two teams had traded jerseys. After hitting only .167 in the first game, Iowa State came roaring back, swinging at a .387 clip on the way to a 30-20 victory heading into the intermission.

Junior Erin Boeve, normally an offensive machine, had only one kill at the break, and only five overall for the match. The rest of the team picked up the slack, with four players racking up double-digit kills. Junior Lauren Cummings led the way with 17 and senior Katie Jessen added 16, moving her into fourth place on the ISU all-time kills list.

“It sure makes it a lot harder [when Boeve has an off night],” said senior Katie Churm. “We all rallied around her and finished it off.”

There were a few times during the third game that Iowa State looked poised to pull away, but the Red Raiders kept crawling back. Texas Tech was getting plenty of breaks, with two consecutive serves rolling over the net for Raider points, but the Cyclones were able to overcome the attack behind five service aces. The teams combined for 12 aces on the night, along with 15 service errors.

“I think we went after it serving and sometimes you just have to do that,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t too concerned about it because I thought we served aggressively.”

After being blocked 12 times in the first three games, the Cyclones made offensive adjustments in game four, getting blocked only once until the final moments of the game.

The team also picked up its blocking, tallying 4.5 blocks in game four on the way to a big win.

“We made some adjustments and tried to use Boeve as a decoy,” Johnson said.

“That helped open up our other hitters a little bit.”