In day two of the Cyclones’ doubleheader, Iowa State volleyball lost a close match to Texas Tech.

The Cyclones came out strong in the first set, beating Texas Tech 25-16, but lost two close ones in a row that left them fighting their way back in the fourth set to force a fifth.

The second set went back and forth up to the 24-point until a pair of attacking errors from Iowa State led Texas Tech to take the set 26-24. 

In the third set, Texas Tech sat at set point as Iowa State went on a 4-0 scoring run, but it was cut short by a Texas Tech timeout that led to a set win after sophomore outside hitter Caitlin Dugan came out of the timeout with a kill. Texas Tech took the set 25-22.

Senior defensive specialist Izzy Enna said Iowa State had to have mental toughness to push through no matter what the score was and how it was going. 

“We play a lot of games where you got to win one or two points back to back to get out of a certain rotation,” redshirt junior middle blocker Avery Rhodes said. “So those drills are helping us a ton.”

Head Coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said she felt her team was uneven and couldn’t get kills, which she said contributed to the loss.

She said Texas Tech became more aggressive as they became more confident and got the breaks they needed to win. 

“It was a battle, we didn’t give up, we kept fighting,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Tech battled just a little bit longer and I thought they stayed a little more steady. The last two nights I’ve felt up and down, I’ve felt good streaks and then rough streaks of play.”

Johnson-Lynch said the team had stretches where she didn’t think they were aggressive and didn’t have good body language or the confidence. She said they just need to hang in there when the other team is going through a stretch when they’re playing well. 

When talking about the close second and third sets Iowa State lost, Johnson-Lynch said she hopes the team understands it’s volleyball, so it can have momentum swings for each team. 

“You can lose some close sets, you can sometimes get killed one set and come back and win the next,” Johnson-Lynch said. “That’s kind of what Tech did tonight so hopefully we’re mature enough to know that that’s sports, but the important thing is you keep your chin up and just keep fighting.”

Iowa State used the momentum from the 4-0 run in set three before Texas Tech won it to come out and win set four, but it wasn’t enough to win the fifth.

Enna said they just kept driving, even though they didn’t win.

“It kind of sucked we lost by two points but we pushed all the way through,” Enna said. “That’s what we’ve been working on, it’s been a lot better than last year so far with mental toughness.”

Iowa State will travel to Austin, Texas, on Thursday and Friday to play Texas next, with both games coming at 7 p.m. The game will be available to watch on the Longhorn Network.