The Iowa State Volleyball Team brought home their first win in Big 12 conference play Wednesday night against Missouri, 15-8,15-10,15-3.

“We beat [Missouri] in three. We beat them decisively,” said Jackie Nunez, head volleyball coach for ISU. “We just went in and executed. We blocked very well and served very well against Missouri.”

“We feel great. It was a great match. We really played hard and really kicked their butts,” said Staci Smith, a sophomore outside hitter. “It was mostly a serving game. They made a lot of their own mistakes. We had a lot of good serving.

“They were a good competitor. They played hard. We knew that this would be a good chance to get a win in the Big 12,” Smith said. “I think that everyone played really great. Everyone worked well together. Everyone did their part.”

The ‘Clones knew the opportunity for a win was theirs for the taking.

“I think that Missouri was a really weak team, and we did a good job controlling the game from start to finish,” said freshman middleblocker Jodi DeVries. “We did a good job of serving aggressively. We didn’t really give them a good chance to play. I think that the entire match really flew by.

“It felt really good to win in three. We haven’t done that all season,” DeVries said.

The Missouri Tigers are now 0-9 in the Big 12, and 0-17 overall. Of the 16 matches that the Tigers have played, 12 have ended in a 0-3 score.

The Cyclones had a .270 hitting percentage, with Jodi DeVries leading the team with a .438 hitting percentage. The Tigers were held to a .000 hitting percentage.

“These last few games I have been concentrating on getting more kills,” DeVries said.

Sonya Van Helden lead the team in kills with 13, and Staci Smith and Jodi DeVries each added nine kills. The Cyclone’s team total in kills was 42, compared to the Tigers’ 26. The Cyclones served seven aces, with Colleen Henican having a team-high two.

Julie McGrath helped the Cyclones with her 32 assists for the three game match.

“Julie McGrath set for the entire match. I have to commend her on her performance,” Nunez said. “She did a good job of creating a lot for our hitters to attack.”

Nunez chose to use McGrath instead of senior Jen Lansink for the match. “They [McGrath and Lansink] have been pretty even in practice right now in their level of performance. McGrath has been coming up,” Nunez said.

“We haven’t been winning with the current group, so we changed things around,” Nunez said. “We chose Julie, and she did a good job.”

The team is now getting ready for their next match against Oklahoma.

“Oklahoma is a good team. We need to key on the prevention of [Oklahoma’s] outside hitters from racking up a lot of kills against us,” Nunez said. “We just need to focus on the aspects of play that will lead to better and better performances.”

“It’s a big advantage for us to play at home.” DeVries said. “Traveling is getting a little old. Next month, we will be at home a lot, and I think that will help.”

The Cyclones are up against Oklahoma Saturday night at 7:30 at Hilton Coliseum.