The storybook season for the Cyclone volleyball team came to an end on Saturday when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish bounced Iowa State from their first NCAA Tournament appearance.

The 15th-ranked Irish stopped the Cyclones (22-12) in three games, 15-3, 16-14 and 15-10, in the second round matchup in South Bend, Ind.

Despite the loss, Head Coach Jackie Nunez was pleased by her squad’s overall performance.

“I am proud of the team because they beat Idaho and for the first NCAA appearance, we played well,” she said. “We just couldn’t sustain the level of executions.

“Our team was capable of playing and beating Notre Dame, they just didn’t get the job done,” Nunez added. “We didn’t give up. That is not our style.”

Despite the feeble first game, ISU was able to rebound to nearly capture the second.

The Cyclones led Notre Dame throughout game two but could not come away with the victory despite nine kills from senior outside hitter Kirstin Hugdahl.

Nunez said if ISU could have captured the second game, the outcome of the match might have been different.

“We had an opportunity to finish game two, but couldn’t cap it,” Nunez said. “If we would have won, it would have set a completely different tone.

“I was disappointed with the results of the game. Our team rebounded well off game one and played hard in game two.”

Hugdahl once again recorded nine kills in the third game but again could not overtake the Irish offense.

“We came in with the attitude that we could beat any team,” she said. “We came out mentally prepared, but played inconsistent.”