The 1,126 people who came to women’s volleyball game against Iowa on Friday night saw the Cyclones beat the Hawkeyes for the first time since Sept. 19, 1995.

Head coach Linda Crum said it was the biggest crowd she had seen since she started at Iowa State in 1999.

“It was a great crowd,” Crum said. “We’ve rebuilt our program. When they come out and watch us now, I think they are going to look at volleyball and say that this is exciting, a great spectator sport, and I like being a part of that.”

Senior setter Lindsey Chapman said the game was a good opportunity for the fans to see the team.

“I don’t think that a lot of people really think of volleyball as a big sport, but since we are playing Iowa then they will come,” said Chapman. “I think with how exciting this game was tonight, I seriously believe that there will many more people at our games.

“I think people enjoyed themselves, and it was such a competitive, fun match to play in and a fun match to watch.”

Iowa State was coming off a sweep of the ISU Heritage Classic Aug. 29-30.

“Last weekend, I would say, was not as much competition as this weekend, and that’s why it was good for us to come out and get challenged tonight and see what we’re really made of,” Chapman said.

The score remained close in Game 1 until two kills by senior Renae Pruess and a service ace by sophomore Katie Kruenegel put the Cyclones ahead 10-4. Iowa State went on to win the game 30-19.

“One thing I’m really proud of with our kids is that they have this mindset now that nobody touches them in game one and you really saw that,” Crum said. “I thought our serving was unbelievable in game one and Iowa just couldn’t ever get into a rhythm with their offense.”

The Cyclones led much of Game 2 but never had a chance to relax. Trailing 18-11, the Hawkeyes reeled off five straight points to cut the gap to 18-16.

Iowa State was able to keep the lead with the help of two kills apiece by sophomore Ashlie McWee and junior Brittany Dalager. The Hawkeyes weren’t done yet, scoring four more points before a Pruess kill gave Iowa State the game, 30-26.

The Cyclones were never really in Game 3 after Iowa scored seven straight to pull ahead 14-9 on the way to a 30-24 win.

Iowa State trailed by two early in Game 4, then charged ahead scoring six straight to lead, 14-10. Freshman Katie Jessen had two kills in the rally and a block assist with McWee. Iowa State went on to win the game, 30-20, and the match, 3-1.

“Katie [Jessen] struggled early in the match and I think the thing that is great is what she did in game four,” Crum said. “That spark in Game 4 was critical in terms of us getting a momentum push and us creating that lead.”

The Cyclones went into Game 4 with confidence.

“We were going to dominate that fourth game,” McWee said. “We didn’t want to give them any more room to think that they could come in here and whoop us at home.”

Dalager paced the Cyclone offense in game four, racking up 21 kills.

Crum said Dalager knows the game and does a great job of mixing up her shots.

“Brittany is just a smart player, and she’s important in the sense that she does everything for us, serving, ballhandling and what she does offensively,” Crum said.

McWee, who tallied 18 kills against Iowa, said she didn’t know much about the rivalry between the two schools.

“I didn’t really understand how the rivalry worked here but I see how they get into it,” McWee said. “It’s a good feeling because this is one step closer to get the respect that we deserve in the state.”

Chapman ended the match with 52 assists and senior Dana Koziol recorded 24 digs for the Cyclones.

“This was one of our biggest games of the season just because we haven’t played them since I’ve been here and there is always a rivalry between Iowa and Iowa State,” Chapman said.

It was definitely a game we looked forward to, and it was a game we knew we were going to be challenged.”