The Iowa State Volleyball Team took on some tough opponents over the weekend, narrowly losing in four-game matches to the two teams.

Friday night, the Cyclones went against Texas Tech, taking only the first game in the match, 15-8, 9-15, 10-15, 11-15. Game one was the first time this season that the Cyclones beat Texas Tech.

Even with the loss, Iowa State Head Coach Jackie Nunez was pleased with the team’s performance. “I thought that they played hard,” Nunez said. “If we could have taken care of some of the details of the match, be it the blocking or our reception offense or our defense, at certain times in the match I think that we could have beaten Texas.”

“I just want my team to come out and play hard, and play their hearts out, and that’s exactly what they did. As long as they do that, we will continue to improve,” Nunez said. “I am pleased with the progress we have made in the match.

Texas Tech Head Coach Jeff Nelson felt that his team wasn’t together. “We played very flat. I felt that we were very uninspired. We didn’t play our style of ball,” Nelson said. “Obviously, I am always happy to get a win on the road, but this was not necessarily what we were looking for. My disappointment was not being able to handle the big leads, maybe not working as hard as we needed to.”

All four games were fierce battles for the Cyclones, as they struggled to close the gaps that Texas Tech created. In game one, the Cyclones were down by five points early on (2-7), and managed to take win. In game two, the Cyclones almost closed an 11-point gap, but still not enough to get the win. Game three was the opposite, as the Cyclones had control of the board for half the game, having a five-point lead that slipped away.

Senior Sonya Van Helden led the Cyclones in kills with 23, and also in digs with 20, and in hits with a career high 72. Van Helden also had a team high three service aces. Senior Rachelle Van Scoyoc had the highest hitting percentage of the night with .259, adding nine kills and 16 digs. Junior Heidi Rogers added another 11 digs, and senior Jen Lansink helped out the team with 49 assists.

Even with the outcome, players were pleased with their performance. “I think that the team played pretty well tonight, part of it was having Colleen Henican hitting outside. That generated a lot of offense for us that we haven’t had in the last few matches,” Van Helden said. “Texas Tech is a good team. They are ranked in the top 25, and I think that we did a real good job adjusting to the things that they did.

“We were really enthusiastic and that kept us in the game,” Van Helden said. “When we served aggressively, it helped because they couldn’t run their middle attacks, which was what was working really well for them.”

“We had a lot of fun and we worked really hard,” said Jen Lansink. “We worked well as a team, and I think that is what gave us the ability to come back from a seven to one deficit.

“We had very good hitting percentages tonight. The hitters were working very, very hard,” Lansink said. “They were thinking about their shots. They were focusing on doing things right.”

“We were really pleased at the way that we came out. Last time we played them, we made them look better than they were, and tonight I think that we showed them that Iowa State can compete with the best teams in the nation,” said Andrea Thul.

Saturday night, the Cyclones challenged the Baylor Bears. The Cyclones took game one, and the Bears took the rest, 15-9, 10-15, 15-17, 10-15. “It was sketchy, but it got the job done,” said Baylor Head Coach Brian Hosfeld. “Our first meeting was a back and forth battle. We were just a little bit more consistent in this match.”

Nunez thought that the match was very similar to the match between the two teams earlier in the season.

“We started out playing well, and as the match progressed, Baylor started to play better, and we didn’t respond well to it,” Nunez said. “I thought that my team panicked tonight, unlike last night when they played hard throughout the match. We made too many unforced errors. At times when we were in the position to take the lead, we just responded by making an error, and that killed the team momentum.”

Many of the players felt that they could have done more to get the win.

“At critical times we didn’t do what we needed to do. Baylor is a very beatable team for us,” said Colleen Henican. “They’re a good team but I think that we are equal to them.”

“This weekend has been pretty frustrating,” Henican said. “All the games of each match have been really close. Consistency is our biggest problem right now.”

The Cyclones took game one rather quickly, holding a lead throughout the game. Game two was a closer battle, as the Cyclones had the lead throughout most of the match, when Baylor buckled down and took over. Game three was down to the wire. Baylor built up a five point lead, the Cyclones caught back up, and the teams went point for point to the end. The Cyclones had a five point lead in game four, but the Bears came on strong late in the game, having a big run that put them in the lead.

Van Helden had a team high 24 kills and 56 hits for the night, with a .321 hitting percentage. Henican had a team high 14 digs, along with a career high 18 kills, and had 53 hits for the night. Lansink had 54 assists, and a career high six service aces.

The Cyclones are now 5-23 overall, and 1-15 in Big 12 play.