Behind a strong attack and front line, the Iowa State volleyball team began the spring season with a win over the St. Louis in Milwaukee on Friday.

The Cyclones defeated the Billikens by three sets to none, taking each game by a score of 25-16, 25-16, 25-21. They led their opponents in almost every statistical category, including kills, blocks, assists and hitting percentage.

Iowa State opened the match strong by holding the Billikens to a hitting percentage of zero, while they had 0.227 and building a 5-0 lead before the first timeout. The story of the first set was focused around the offense, as the Cyclones had 11 kills to St. Louis’ four. However, they also had more errors than the Billikens (6 vs. 4) in this first set, as both teams had service errors.

The second set was more of the same for the Cyclones, with senior Piper Mauck having 15 assists, as well as two blocks on the defensive end as Iowa State again won by a score of 25-16. Mauck finished the match as the only player with a perfect hitting percentage, as the Cyclones finished the second set at an average of 0.375 compared to their opponents’ 0.154.

Sophomore Kenzie Mantz also had a strong outing for Iowa State, leading the team in kills with 11, while also finishing with the third most attacking attempts for the Cyclones at 18. She was also responsible for 11 of the Cyclones’ 52 total points, once again leading the team in the offensive statistics department.

The third set had a different tone compared to the previous two, as St. Louis rallied from down 5-10 to tie up the score at 16 apiece to cause the Cyclones to call their first timeout of the entire match. The Billikens outscored Iowa State 11-5, as the Cyclones had multiple attack errors.

Iowa State closed out the set and match over St. Louis by outscoring the Billikens 9-5 over the final nine points. Senior libero Izzy Enna and junior Eleanor Holthaus each served an ace for the Cyclones’ 20th and 22nd points respectively, both crucial moments over the final few points.

The Cyclones ultimately finished out the set 25-21 to win their first match of the season. Enna also led the Cyclones in aces at two to tie with Mauck and sophomore Annie Hatch, while Holthaus accounted for six of the team’s 30 total digs.

The Cyclones will be back on court Saturday at the Al McGuire Center against No. 24 Marquette. The game is set to start at 2 p.m. A link to the match stats can be found here.