The Iowa State volleyball team, now ranked No. 31 in the national polls, spanked the Missouri Tigers, 15-6, 15-11 and 15-8, in three easy games Wednesday night.

The Cyclone netters were back in their old home, the Physical Education Building, for their first Big Eight Conference match where they took the broom to the now 2-12 Tigers.

This latest win brings ISU’s record to 10-5.

The Cyclones came out strong in the first game administering massive beatings from the outside and middle hitting positions. Missou called a time-out at 11-5, but ISU only allowed a single point more — rolling to an easy 15-6 victory.

The Tigers started to claw back in the second game, tying the score at 11-11, but strong efforts from senior Dana Mucha put an end to any thoughts of a comeback.

After a short intermission the Cyclones took the floor and took the final game for the win.

Senior Kirstin Hugdahl began the winning campaign blasting five straight service points with one service ace. ISU slowly chipped away at the Tigers, racking up points here and there, making it a final of 15-8.

Mucha was unstoppable all night with her slide attacks and tremendous blocking at the net, racking up five single blocks.

Head coach Jackie Nunez was pleased with her team’s ability to pull through and also with Mucha’s play.

“We did a very good job of just being patient and just working hard to side-out,” Nunez said. “It’s a good win to beat them in three. I think Dana’s been playing real consistently for us. We were effective at getting her the ball and she put it away at times. I’ve been real pleased with Dana’s performance this season.”

Mucha was also happy with her performance, but keeps in mind the other members of her team as a strong foundation.

“My blocking used to be my primary strength, but now I’ve raised my hitting up to the same level,” Mucha said.

“We were determined to beat them in three. That’s all we had in our minds. That meant we had to play well, execute and play our game,” she said. “We just expect everyone on the court to execute at all times so we have confidence in everyone. That’s kind of how you have to do it if you plan to win.”

Nunez wasn’t surprised by the fight the Tigers put up in their first Big Eight game despite their blemished record.

“We expected them to be very aggressive and much improved. They had nothing to lose, so they just went all out,” Nunez said. “We’re back to being a ranked team and we expect people to be gunning for us.”

Because of the Cyclone’s winning ways, they are now rated No. 31 in the country, much to the pleasure of Nunez.

“I’m pleased that we broke back in and if we could get a win over Nebraska or Colorado we would elevate even higher in the rankings,” Nunez said. “We’re on the voter’s minds and that’s a good sign.”

Even though Nunez’s squad is on the up and up, she sees some room for improvement.

“A couple of areas of our game that need improvement are blocking — Missouri did a good job of exploiting our block and we need better ball control so that we can run more things in our offense,” Nunez said.

“We need to run more middle attack in transition and include Sonya Van Helden more. We need to mix up and diversify our reception offense also.”

Iowa State is off until next Wednesday when they travel to the Little Apple of Manhattan, Kansas to take on the also nationally-ranked Kansas State Wildcats.

On Oct. 7 the Cyclones will battle the country’s best team, Nebraska, in a Big Eight contest in Hilton.