A tooth-and-nail final match clinched the title for the ISU volleyball squad in the Mizunu/Auburn Challenge over the weekend.

The Cyclones captured the win against Auburn in five games, its final in the two-day tournament in Auburn, Ala. Iowa State was undefeated in the tournament, defeating Birmingham Southern and East Tennessee State by 3-0 scores Friday and Saturday.

“This win is huge for us, especially getting that first one on the road,” said interim head coach Amy Farber Knowles. “Auburn is a very good team, and they’ll beat a lot of teams in the SEC.”

Auburn started the contest by taking game one, 30-24. Iowa State started out flat, its communication floundering in the loss.

Knowles decided to make a change and substituted in senior Brittany Dalager. Knowles said she has seen Dalager’s maturity grow immensely from last year.

“She is so poised and is such a large backbone of the team. Sometimes players [like Dalager] are overlooked by players and coaches, but we know the importance she plays to the team,” Knowles said. “Without her great sideouts, passes, serves and choices, we couldn’t have won that match.”

The Cyclones came back in game two for a 30-20 win but were narrowly edged out when Auburn claimed game three, 30-28.

Another shuffle was made as freshman Laura Cady was brought in for her ball control.

“She did a phenomenal job for a freshman,” Knowles said.

Freshman Meghan Ferrie was put in to contribute her offense in the front row. At one point in the match, three freshmen, two sophomores and one junior were the bodies on the court.

“We were a young rotation but we worked well together,” Knowles said. The Cyclones squeaked out game four with a score of 30-28 and gutted out the final game with a 15-11 win to claim the match and the tournament.

“It was a great overall effort by the team; the girls were all on the same page and had a never-say-die attitude,” Knowles said. “Despite being down two games to one going into the fourth, we saw some fight in them.”

Knowles contributes the success of the tournament to a trio of outstanding players. Junior hitter Katie Kruenegel, who earned tournament MVP honors, was unstoppable with 13 kills against Auburn and 38 in the three matches.

Junior setter Amanda Craig totaled 54 assists against Auburn. She racked up 125 assists in the three matches and also claimed all-tournament honors.

The final piece of the puzzle for Iowa State was sophomore libero Katie Churm. Churm garnered all-tournament team laurels by digging up 26 saves in the championship match and 58 overall.

“The entire success of the game is contributed to Katie’s passing to Amanda so she could set for Katie’s kills,” Knowles said. “This trio led us to wins, but everyone was contributing and ready to step in.”

Redshirt sophomore Nicole Lorenzen had 11 kills in the title match and also scrapped 12 digs, earning her the first Cyclone double-double of the season. She tallied 30 total kills in the tournament.

Freshman Erin Boeve was on Kruenegel’s heels with 13 kills of her own, while Ferrie tallied 12.

After playing flat and without fluency in the first match against Birmingham Southern, Knowles said she credits that first win under the Cyclones belt to further success.

“We got the nervousness out and got confident,” she said. “Against East Tennessee, we started well and had lots of momentum. We lost a little focus and allowed them to come back a little, but then we really clicked.”

The tournament title gave the Cyclones their third consecutive season in which they opened the season with a tournament championship. The win was also Iowa State’s first road tournament win since 1997.