The Iowa State volleyball team hosted two tough teams from Texas last weekend and wound up with two tough losses as a result.

The Cyclones opened Big 12 Conference play against Baylor on Sept. 26 in the Forker Building.

Coach Jackie Nunez said ISU struggled to get into an offensive flow. As a result, Baylor walked away victorious in three sets with scores of 15-8, 15-12, 15-7.

Freshman Jennifer Collins and junior Colleen Henican led the Cyclone team in kills each recording 13.

Sophomore Andrea Thul and senior Heidi Rogers followed with nine kills apiece. Junior Julie McGrath set 38 assists.

Collins and Henican also led the team in defensive statistics. Henican totaled 11 digs, while Collins added four block assists and two solo blocks.

Baylor was led by Elisha Polk, co-Big 12 player of the week, who pounded 16 kills for the Bears.

“Baylor did a good job of taking control of the game. They served very well and took us out of position,” Nunez said.

Conference play continued on Saturday evening when the Cyclones went up against Texas Tech and lost 15-4, 15-7, 15-8.

Assistant Coach Sarah Lewis said ISU struggled to stop Texas Tech’s Brande Brown. Because Brown was nearly unstoppable, she was able to run the Baylor offense effectively and keep the Cyclone netters off balance.

Brown led her team to victory by nailing 18 kills.

Henican again led the cardinal-and-gold, registering 12 kills and 10 digs. Other offensive leaders included Thul, who rounded up 10 kills and Collins who logged eight.

True freshman Stacy Nicks, a middle blocker, came off the bench to contribute six kills and eight digs.

Lewis said the team is not playing as well as a unit as they did in the early-season schedule.

“We didn’t play like we did in early September,” Lewis said. “We need to execute and things will get better,”

The Cyclones’ overall record currently stands at 9-6, while the conference record is 0-2.

This competition does not get any easier as this weekend the women travel to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Colorado Buffaloes.