After four games of consistent play and passion, the ISU volleyball squad lost a heartbreaker to Kansas in game 5.

The first game found the Cyclones struggling against Kansas’ powerful blocks and hitters. Iowa State’s passing broke down, and the team committed six service errors in the opening 30-23 loss.

Iowa State rebounded in game 2 with the addition of junior Katy Amundson, who lit a spark for the squad. Points were traded back and forth until a valiant performance by Katie Jessen sealed the 31-29 win. Jessen captured two late-point kills, with Amundson pounding a misplaced Kansas pass for the victory.

Game three found Iowa State in a state of intensity, despite several disputes with referees that took points away from the Cyclones.

After a tie at point 28, Jessen again nailed a kill and was followed by an overpass slam from junior setter Amanda Craig. Despite getting a lead 4-1 advantage in the fourth set, Iowa State couldn’t pull the momentum together and lost 30-28.

The aggression and fire seemed to stop in the final game of the night as Iowa State was easily eliminated in a 15-5 thrashing.

“Our communication gives us momentum and the substance to win, and our chance in game 5 was great,” said ISU head coach Linda Crum. “We went out and were competitive against Kansas, and there was no question we could’ve won it.”

Poor passing resulted in setter Craig leaving her net position and having few choices for the Cyclone hitters. A dominating double block by Kansas left few chances for kills and forced bad decisions by ISU attackers.

“We broke down communication, which breaks down everything else and goes hand in hand. Nothing changed on Kansas’ side of the net, and we just lost our confidence,” said junior middle Katie Kruenegel.

After coming off a huge win at Drake, the loss is hard for the team to absorb when it feels so close to victory, Kruenegel said.

“There’s really no words to explain how close we feel we are to winning. We need to get over this hump, and then we’ll take off,” she said.

“It’s a matter of speechlessness to why we aren’t there yet.”