The Iowa State volleyball team was soaking up rays of victory in Southern California over the weekend at the third annual Royal Oak Cal Poly Classic.

Jackie Nunez and her squad placed second at the tourney, taking on some top-rated teams including No.18 University of California at Santa Barbara and No. 23 Pepperdine and host team Cal Poly.

In a heart-wrenching five game contest, ISU lost to eventual champion UC-Santa Barbara in their first match of the tournament.

Nunez admitted her team came out to a slow start in the match. Iowa State was up 14-10 in the second game, but let it slip through their grasp. The Cyclones battled back in the next two games, but the effort wasn’t enough to knock off the top-twenty team.

On Saturday the cardinal and gold continued play against West coast opponents Cal Poly and Pepperdine and gained wins in both contests bringing their record to 9-5.

The Cyclone netters posted a decisive 3-0 win over the Cal Poly Mustangs, which pleased the Cyclones’ skipper.

“I thought that we played well. We killed Cal Poly. We just continually played better throughout the tournament and my team was determined to not start out like we did against Santa Barbara,” Nunez said.

ISU rolled on to a 3-1 victory over the Waves of Pepperdine, who are No. 23 nationally, 15-2, 15-6, 6-15 and 15-12.

“This is a very significant win for us to knock off another top-ranked team,” Nunez said.

Iowa State previously defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes, who were in the Top 25, in five games.

Nunez is hoping her team’s recent play will get them some votes in the next poll due out today and vault the Cyclones into the Top 25.

The two senior outside hitters, Steph McCannon and Kirstin Hugdahl, had strong performances all weekend and made dual appearances on the All-Tournament team.

Hugdahl shattered her previous hitting percentage record in the second match against Cal Poly swinging for a phenomenal .727, hitting 16 kills in 22 attacks.

Other strong showings for the squad include Dana Mucha’s middle hitting and Jen Lansink’s directing of the offense.

After a slight preseason slump, Lansink is replacing freshman Julie McGrath for the setting duties and has brought some leadership and experience back with her.

“Julie has done quite a commendable job, but she’s a freshman and she doesn’t have the training and the experience Jen does,” Nunez said. “So with Jen playing better and being in there running our offense, that’s made a huge difference.”

Nunez also commended Mucha for being a strong team leader. She felt Mucha was playing consistent volleyball.

This tourney concluded pre-conference play. ISU heads into the Big Eight conference against the Missouri Tigers on Wednesday at 7:30 in the Physical Education Building.

The Tigers are at a mere 2-11 record, but Nunez isn’t about to overlook anyone in the Big Eight.

“It’s going to be a very, very competitive conference race. I’m very excited,” she said. “Missouri has struggled with a tough schedule this year, but we’re not taking them lightly based on that fact.”

Other powerhouses in the conference include the nation’s No. 1 giant Nebraska, top 15 team Colorado and a much improved Kansas State team.

Nunez is positive about facing such competition and is confident of her team’s ability to play with these teams.

“As we head into our conference play, we’re starting to play a lot better and the line-up is getting solidified. It’s a good time for that to start happening to us,” Nunez said.