Hilton Coliseum was packed Saturday night, but even a record-setting 4,000 supporters couldn’t cause the ISU volleyball team to upset the visiting No. 1 Nebraska.

Like the rest of the teams on Nebraska’s hit list who have succumbed to a three-game sweep winning streak, the Cyclones became the next victims of the potent Cornhusker squad. ISU was shucked by the Huskers in three games: 15-4, 15-11 and 15-11.

Head Coach Jackie Nunez was confident in her team going into the contest, but she was realistic about facing the volleyball powerhouse.

“We had nothing to lose. I just thought that the best-case scenario would be we’d upset them and win in three, four or five games or the worst-case scenario would be to lose in three like everyone else. Unfortunately, we ended up like everyone else,” Nunez said.

However, Nunez’s team did manage to score in the double-digits, a feat only four other Nebraska opponents have been able to accomplish this year.

The Cyclones went into the first game head-first, vying for the serve, but couldn’t manage to score and found themselves in a deep-deficit hole that proved to be the reason for their swift opening game loss.

“We were going back and forth with them at the beginning, but then they kind of took off. We started making stupid little errors that they took advantage of,” Nunez said.

“Whether it was letting a tipped coverage ball drop or making a stupid hitting choice, we just made some not-so-bright choices that they just completely took advantage of.”

Iowa State was up against monstrous blocking and an innocuous offense that were both hard to handle.

“They are a good blocking team, but I think a lot of it was that our offense was predictable at times,” Nunez said. “They knew where we were going to be setting the ball and a lot of times our hitters made poor choices.”

The Cyclones also had Iowa-native Lisa Reitsma to deal with. Reitsma, a sophomore southpaw from Sanborn (Western Christian), hit a lofty .556 percentage with 22 kills.

“We could not stop Lisa Reitsma. Our timing was off on her hitting. We were up so early on her that she hammered the ball down our throats,” Nunez said.

“That’s the best Nebraska team I’ve ever seen. Our attitude was when we hit the floor against them that we’d improve every game,” Nunez said.

The cardinal and gold struggled back improving in the second and third games. Despite Nebraska jumping to a 5-0 lead, ISU tied the score at 9-9 behind the fire of Dana Mucha’s serves.

Freshman setter Julie McGrath entered the match and began to direct an enlivened Cyclone offense. The Cyclone netters would only manage two more points, however, en route to a 15-11 loss.

In the third game ISU took their first lead of the match 8-6, but again the tables were turned against the Cyclones as they found themselves fighting for life and the match. Nebraska sealed the repeat 15-11 victory ignoring any ISU attempts at a comeback.

“In order to beat a team like Nebraska, all facets of our game need to be working. We can’t have a breakdown in a couple of areas of our game and expect Nebraska to not capitalize on that,” Nunez said.

“They’re [ISU] frustrated because they know when we were executing, we were scoring points. We were doing good things. We couldn’t pull out a game. We couldn’t get to 15 first,” she said.

Despite the loss Nunez was happy with some aspects of her team’s play.

“I’m pleased with a lot of things I did see from my team in terms of hanging in there, and they kept fighting even though all areas of our game weren’t going that well,” she said.

Nunez thought senior Kirstin Hugdahl, junior Sonya Van Helden and newcomer Julie McGrath did a good job of generating her team’s offense.

Hugdahl, a team leader and a continuous record-setter for ISU and also the Big Eight’s kill leader, was critical of her performance.

“This was a learning experience. We learned a lot about bringing more aspects of our game together consistently,” she said. “I’m my toughest critic. I’ll let you know if I have a good game.”

There is talk of Hugdahl and All-American honors for her final season, but she isn’t concentrating on such accolades.

“Right now it’s just talk. I need to keep working on my game and be a team player,” Hugdahl said.

McGrath, who is adjusting well to college athletics and ISU, commented on her play as well.

“I just went into there with confidence to help the team positively and to run the offense,” McGrath said.

Coming off the weekend loss, Iowa State now stands at 11-6 overall and 2-1 in the Big Eight. Nunez hopes her team will bounce back and return to their winning ways when they venture to Minnesota to battle the Big Ten Gophers on Wednesday.

This Saturday the Cyclone netters play host to another nationally-ranked foe, Colorado, in Hilton at 7:30.