Albuquerque, N.M., known as a warm and arid city, proved to be a frigid climate for the Iowa State women’s volleyball team over the weekend.

ISU took on some tough competition in the desert town including seventh-ranked Penn State, New Mexico and Oregon State in two days of play.

The Cyclone squad accepted a hard-hitting three game loss in their first match against Penn State. The Nittany Lions continued to roll over their competition and claimed the tournament championship without dropping a game after the defeat of ISU.

Head Coach Jackie Nunez acknowledged the play of Penn State as the reason for the decisive loss to the nationally ranked powerhouse.

“They out executed us throughout the entire match. Our outside hitting game fell apart and Kirstin [Hugdahl] and Steph [McCannon] struggled to generate a lot of kills,” Nunez said.

“Penn State did a good job of picking apart our passing, and we just struggled to play with them. They’re very, very good. I think we learned a lot from Penn State; we just did not play well.”

Iowa State next took on host New Mexico and lost a four game battle 13-15, 15-9, 8-15, 5-15. New Mexico displayed record-breaking defensive skills against ISU, combining for 101 digs and eight blocks.

Nunez cited their extraordinary defense and her team’s error-filled performance for the downfall of her squad.

“We really opened the door for New Mexico. Our outside hitters had a hard time putting the ball away. They played tremendous defense, and it wore us out,” Nunez said.

“We couldn’t sustain our execution, and they were playing defense out of their minds. That was clearly the best defensive match an opponent has played against us.”

Rachelle Freese had a good showing against the hometown favorite, notching 11 kills in 21 attempts, six blocks and four digs.

Nunez did think her team’s play improved steadily with each match. The Cyclones ended the tournament with a win in five games against Oregon State.

“Our best match of the tourney was against Oregon State. We put it together and played well as a team,” Nunez said.

Seniors Kirstin Hugdahl and Steph McCannon were the one-two punch the red and gold needed to pull away from Oregon State. Hugdahl and McCannon totaled 43 of the team’s 95 kills and 41 of the 86 digs.

Nunez pointed out other superb performances by weak-side hitter Sonya Van Helden and freshman setter Julie McGrath.

“Sonya’s emerging and really coming on as an offensive strength which will only help our outside-hitting game and help our entire offense,” Nunez said. “Julie also did a pretty good job for us. We will be looking for her to start against Northern Iowa.”

Iowa State heads into competition against UNI on Wednesday at Hilton at 7:30 with a 4-2 overall record. UNI claimed the mythical state college championship over ISU and Iowa last year and will be defending their title.

“UNI is very beatable. I think we are coming off some pretty tough competition, Penn State was tough and New Mexico careered against us, so I’m hoping that will help us prepare for the level of play we’re getting ready to face,” Nunez said.