The ISU volleyball team fell in straight sets, 0-3 (19-30, 20-30 and 20-30), Tuesday night to intrastate rival Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.

The loss dropped the Cyclones to 4-19 overall while the No. 17 ranked Panthers improved to 25-1 on the season.

ISU head coach Linda Crum said that going into the match, the Cyclones were looking to do some good things against a very good UNI team.

“To just go in and be competitive was a big goal for us,” she said. “At times I think we were. We would have a period where we’d get stuck in a rotation and they would score five straight points, and then we’d go and do the same thing. We were just on the short end of it.”

The Cyclones fell behind early in game one, 1-6, before cutting the Panther lead to 5-6. Northern Iowa slowly built a decisive lead, and eventually took the set, 19-30.

Game two saw much of the same with Northern Iowa jumping out to an 8-2 lead, before Iowa State countered with three straight points. The Panthers built a 24-11 lead on its way to the 20-30 game win.

Iowa State stayed close early in the third game keeping pace with the Panthers on the first 20 service points, but was unable to keep the pressure on. Northern Iowa finished the contest outscoring the Cyclones 20 to 12 on their way to the match win.

Crum said even though the Cyclones lost, it was a fun night.

“Northern Iowa is ranked 17th, and they’re a very good team,” Crum said. “It’s a great volleyball environment there, and playing an intrastate rival is always something you want to do.”

Northern Iowa packed the small West Gym with over 2,000 fans, many traveling on a bus from Carroll to see Northern Iowa’s Kim McCaffrey and Iowa State’s Sara Stribe play.

Junior Mandi Harms led the Cyclones on the night totaling seven kills, four digs and one service ace. Freshman Brittany Dalager added seven kills and six digs.

The Cyclones return to action on Saturday when they travel to Carroll to meet up with Big 12 opponent Texas Tech. The match is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. in the Carroll High School gymnasium.