The Iowa State women’s volleyball team got back on the winning track over the weekend with a second place showing at the ISU Invitational bringing their record to 6-4.

The Cyclones took on the Huskies of Northern Illinois Friday night, then battled the Texas Tech Red Raiders early Saturday afternoon and the Rhode Island Rams later Saturday night.

The Cyclone netters entered tournament play seventh in the country in kills with 17.00 per game and ninth nationally in digs with 19.76 per game according to the latest NCAA statistics.

The squad proved the books don’t lie by soundly defeating Northern Illinois in three swift games 15-13, 15-2 and 15-6.

Head Coach Jackie Nunez thought the key to her team’s quick defanging of the Huskies was attributed to strong blocking.

“I thought we blocked extremely well. That was probably one of our best blocking matches of the year,” she said. “I thought [freshman outside hitter] Colleen Henican came in and played extremely well on the right side for us. I thought she had a great match and really set the tone for our blocking.”

Nunez had a new lineup on the floor to start the match and was satisfied with the turnout of that new combination, but at the same time realized that it is still just the beginning of the season.

“I thought after the first game we really came out and dominated thematch and our blocking was a big part of that,” Nunez said.

“It took awhile to get rolling, but we have to remember that we lost five players from last year’s team. We’re feeling the effects of that. It takes awhile for middle hitters to connect with freshman setters, but I think that’s an area of our game that will continue to get better.”

The Cyclones took a night of rest before heading into a grueling five game match against Texas Tech on Saturday. Texas Tech came away with the victory defeating ISU 15-6, 14-16, 8-15, 15-12 and 15-11.

Nunez felt a lack of defense and a one-sided attack was the downfall of her team.

“We just couldn’t generate what we needed to out of the middle and our blocking on their outside hitters was very inconsistent,” Nunez said.

“We have a couple areas of our game that, at this point, are really hurting us, like our blocking of left-side attack. We’ve been struggling with that all season.”

“I think that if we could’ve improved those two areas of the game then it would’ve been a different result,” she said.

The Red Raiders, who have only three losses — all to ranked foes, went on to claim the tourney crown.

Iowa State clawed back later that night to beat the Rams of Rhode Island in three decisive contests, 15-11, 15-9 and 15-12.

Again, the three seniors were leaders on the court for ISU. Middle hitter Dana Mucha registered 14 kills in 25 swings for a .480 hitting percentage — a team high.

Outside hitters, Kirstin Hugdahl and Steph McCannon, were both chosen for the all-tournament team. Hugdahl notched another accolade upon her belt by capturing the ISU all-time kill record in the Northern Illinois match and McCannon once again proved she is a defensive giant by getting 24 digs, a team high.

Another force for the Cyclone netters is freshman setter, Julie McGrath. She was in command of the red and gold offense the entire weekend and lead the team in assists with 322.

Nunez complimented newcomer McGrath on her play.

“She is playing extremely well. She has a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. I think that Julie, by the time she’s done developing, is going to be a great setter,” Nunez said.

The Cyclones travel to Iowa City today to battle the Hawkeyes and then will venture to the state of California to participate in the Cal-Poly Tourney over the weekend.