The ISU volleyball team made a collective statement Saturday night, shocking the No. 18 Texas Longhorns 3-1 at Hilton Coliseum.

“I’m so sick of last year,” said sophomore right-side hitter Meghan Ferrie.

“It has to be a turnaround. We worked way too hard not to deserve that win, and we’re on our home court. It’s our house.

“We own them.”

After dropping the first game 30-22, the Cyclones (7-5, 1-1 Big 12) scrapped out a win in game two, 31-29. Then their mentality took over.

“I think, most importantly, it was us just believing in ourselves,” said junior outside hitter Katie Jessen. “We have the ability and the talent.”

In game three, Iowa State dominated Texas (6-2, 1-1), winning 30-23, with the Cyclones’ largest deficit at 2-0. They battled back and forth with the Longhorns, and, with the score tied at nine, scored six unanswered points, putting Iowa State in the driver’s seat.

“We were hoping to just hang in there, and stay composed and relaxed,” said coach Christy Johnson.

“Something we’ve been working on this season is, when a team starts to make a run, can we just stay relaxed and composed, and not panic? I thought, for the most part, we did a much better job of that.”

Ferrie echoed her coach.

“The third game was a perfect example of our hard work in practice, our hard work in everything that we’re doing right now,” she said. “We’re really trying to pick up every aspect of our game, and that third game just really proved it.”

Iowa State battled in another see-saw match in game four, failing to nab the lead until it went ahead 11-10. Again, the Cyclones made a run, scoring five unanswered and taking complete control of the match. They closed it out 30-27, finalizing their upset.

“It’s a huge win for our program,” Johnson said. “To beat a ranked team when you feel like you’re not respected is huge. It’s huge for our players, and hopefully huge for the fans in the community.”

Iowa State was led by Jessen and Ferrie, who had 18 and 13 kills, respectively. Ferrie tied her career high in kills and beat her previous best in hitting percentage, with .520.

“Meghan Ferrie, she had 13 kills, hit .520, that’s a phenomenal night,” Johnson said. “She played very well.”

The Cyclones were led defensively by Katie Churm, who had 18 digs, and Erin Boeve, with 10 block assists.

Jessica Klein and Amanda Craig each had five block assists, while Ferrie and Nicole Lorenzen had four.

The Cyclones had a new element in their Big 12 home opener – the pep band. Ferrie said she was very grateful the band was there, because she felt the support made a big difference in the game.

“The band brought a whole new element into this gym that we’ve never had before,” Ferrie said. “That’s something that I hope continues and carries on through the years because it worked everyone up … We were a whole different team, they’d never seen that before, so it was awesome.”

Iowa State has already matched its conference win total from last year with one, and is just one win shy of matching its overall win total from last year. The Cyclones travel to Baylor on Wednesday before playing at No. 1 Nebraska on Saturday.

Ferrie said she still expects the Cyclones to play the role of the underdog in the majority of their games this season, and they need to capitalize on it.

“Every team in the Big 12 is going to take us lightly,” she said. “That’s something that we’re just going to shove down their face and take advantage of that.”