Usually a balanced attack is a key to victory, but when someone is hot, keep feeding them the ball.

Seniors Nicole Lorenzen and Katie Jessen carried the ISU volleyball team to a 3-1 (30-25, 30-20, 28-20, 30-25) win over Texas A&M on Wednesday night.

“When I know a hitter is on fire, of course I’m going to keep giving them the ball,” said freshman setter Kaylee Manns.

Jessen led the team with 22 kills and Lorenzen wasn’t far behind with 17. Their excellence wasn’t confined to offense, however, as Jessen had a career-high 17 digs. Manns and senior Katie Churm each had 17 digs and Lorenzen chipped in 15 of her own.

Games one and two belonged to Lorenzen and Jessen, racking up 10 and 12 kills, respectively. During a 7-0 run in game one, the Cyclones were everywhere, taking big swings, flying around for blocks and sliding in for digs.

Iowa State never looked back, holding on for the victory. Every time the Aggies tried to make a run, the Cyclones met them head-on, killing any serious rally before it gathered steam.

“You definitely feel when you are hot, you get a lot more confidence,” Lorenzen said. “I had a little bounce in my step, which helps me get more kills.”

Iowa State won most of the long rallies, digging in when needed and getting the tough points.

“One of the things we talked about is getting the ball across the net four or five times, ’cause we think we will win those balls,” said coach Christy Johnson. “We are pretty good at scrambling and playing out of position.”

The Cyclones came out flat in game three, with a lack of communication and hustle. It took a time-out by Johnson to get the team focused. The Cyclones rallied, pulling even at 28-28 before two Aggie points saw the rally fall short.

“I thought we got tense and lost our aggressiveness in game three,” Johnson said. “We stopped swinging hard and started thinking a little too much.”

During part of the fourth game, it looked as if Iowa State was going to drop another one. They couldn’t pull away, and it seemed like at any time the Aggies were going to go on a run and steal the game.

“In game four we had chances to just fold, to just panic and let it go,” Johnson said.

With the game on the line, it was time to go back to the big hitters. Two kills by Jessen sandwiched a kill by junior Erin Boeve, giving Iowa State a 28-24 lead, and junior Lauren Cummings put the game and match away with two kills.

“It’s good to see that there are opportunities where the pressure is on – critical situations – and they come through,” Johnson said.

“That’s great to see.”