The Iowa State women’s volleyball team jaywalked over the Jayhawks Wednesday night in Lawrence, Kan., posting decisive wins in the first two games, 15-6, 15-4 and sauntered to an 18-16 match win in the third.

Head Coach Jackie Nunez was pleased that her team came out with intensity and could manage the win over Kansas, which is in third place in the Big Eight Conference, in three games.

“I was real proud of my team that even though we had a lull in that third game, when my team couldn’t stop their attack, they still were very poised and composed and were able to pull out the win,” Nunez said.

ISU was down, 11-14, in the third, but withheld Kansas from scoring game point four times. The Cyclones now stand at 13-7 overall and 4-1 in the Big Eight.

The Cyclones were potent offensively, slamming 41 kills as a team for a .232 hitting percentage and defensively held the Jayhawks to a lowly .095 swinging percentage with 52 team digs.

Nunez admitted Kansas wasn’t at the top of their game, but gave credit to her team for shutting the Jayhawks down in three straight games.

“Kansas did not come out playing that well. They made a lot of errors, certainly in the first two games. That enabled us to keep the momentum and trample over them,” Nunez said.

“We were doing things and they just struggled to get into any sort of tempo. Whether it was blocking them, serving tough or hitting smart shots, we were pretty much in their face for the entire match,” Nunez said.

The Cyclone skipper said her team’s keys to victory were execution and keeping their cool under pressure.

“They were very poised and held their composure well and we kept executing,” she said.

Nunez also commended some of her players as critical to the win. She cited senior Steph McCannon as having a steady match — as well as juniors Sonya Van Helden and Rachelle Frese. Those three hitters were very solid and put away the ball for ISU.

McCannon, who leads the conference in digs and is on national listings for average digs per game, racked up a team-high 14 kills and five digs. Hugdahl dug eleven slams while tallying eight kills.

Freshman Julie McGrath directed the winning campaign in the first two games and junior Jen Lansink took over the setting duties in the third. McGrath assisted 20 kills while Lansink claimed nine assists.

Nunez was relieved about the win and saw some good things from the victory.

“I felt that our team was really starting to play better. They were very intense in all three games,” she said. “That was certainly something that I felt we needed to get back, especially going into the Oklahoma match.”

The Cyclones next battle the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday in Hilton Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. Nunez credits the Sooners as a good team that has some powerful hitters including Patrice Arrington.

“They’re very athletic, but our strengths over Oklahoma are better ball control and ball handling skills and that will certainly play a factor in the match,” Nunez said.

Oklahoma is sitting below the Cyclones in the conference at third, boasting a 3-2 record. The Sooners lost in four games to No. 24 Colorado, who ISU recently defeated in five games.