The ISU volleyball team showed its competitive spirit on Saturday night but were unable to come up with the win falling 3-1 to conference rival Baylor.

Baylor took the first game, 15-6, before Iowa State came on strong in the second, taking a 9-0 lead. The Bears slowly chipped away at the lead before eventually coming up with the 15-11 win.

The Cyclones were aided in the second stanza by five team blocks. Leading the way offensively were Stacy Nicks and Sarah Rollman, who tallied seven kills combined.

The third game of the set showed an attack that the Cyclones have become accustomed to,blocking. Iowa State used two blocks for the final points and came out victorious, 16-14.

The Bears took a 14-11 lead in game three before Iowa State was able to battle through four match points. The Cyclones took the game win by capitalizing on their first match point of the game and the match.

The game win was the first the Cyclones have taken against Baylor since 1997 in a 3-1 win in Waco.

Rollman, again, had the hot hand in the third game, recording nine kills and four digs, while the team handled the defensive duties, totaling six blocks in the third set alone.

Baylor used five straight points in the fourth game to put the match away, 15-7. Baylor’s win raised its record to 11-7 with a 5-5 conference record while Iowa State stayed winless in the Big 12, dropping its overall record to 2-15 and 0-9 in Big 12 action.

The loss marked the tenth in a row for the Cyclones, but they were able to end a 16-game losing streak with the win in the third game.

Rollman and Senior leader Nicks led offensively in the match, recording 15 kills apiece. Nicks continued strong play at the net, totaling a season-high seven blocks. She also hit well from the floor with a .364 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Mandi Harms recorded a double-digit kill performance on the night with 10. Harms also added eight digs to pace the defensive efforts.

Baylor used a complete team performance to gain the win.

The Bears were led by freshman middle blocker Tisha Schwartz who totaled a career high 13 kills and a team leading five blocks. Stevie Nicholas had a match-high 18 kills but committed 13 errors in the win.

Nicholas paced the Baylor defense with 12 digs while Dana Chuha and Kirsten Berg each added 10 for the Bears.

Tatiana Kenon continued her strong play for Baylor totaling 17 kills for a .400 hitting percentage. Kenon’s 17 kills marked the 10th time this season that she’s recorded a double-digit kill performance.

“I was really happy with our performance tonight,” said Head Coach Linda Grensing. “We came out and played with some heart and scrappiness tonight. I think this was a potential break through night for us. We showed a lot of promise, especially in games two and three.”

Next action for the Cyclones will be tonight when they take a break from conference action versus Drake. The match is scheduled to take place at the Ankeny High School gym at 7 p.m.