On Friday, the Iowa State volleyball team traveled to Lubbock, Texas to face Big 12 opponent Texas Tech. In the match, Texas Tech beat Iowa State 3-1 to push Iowa State to 8-8 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12.

Iowa State starts strong, finishes weak

In what has been becoming a recurring theme for the Cyclones, the team started off strong by winning 25-22 in the first set.

In that set, Iowa State finished with a .343 hitting percentage while Texas Tech had a .235 hitting percentage.

The next three sets Iowa State had a hitting percentage of .065, .156 and .235.

In the last two sets, Texas Tech had hitting percentages above .400.

Coach Christy Johnson-Lynch has said that her team has struggled with maintaining energy and a positive mentality past the first set.

Texas Tech isn’t the same team

Last year, Texas Tech went 19-15 and 4-12 in the Big 12 and were beat by Iowa State in both games, including a sweep.

This season, Texas Tech sits at a 14-3 record and is 3-0 in the Big 12 with wins over Baylor and Iowa State.

Before the game, Johnson-Lynch said that while Texas Tech doesn’t have a star player they are good at virtually every position but only mentioned setter specifically.

Texas Tech’s setter, Missy Owens, finished the the game with 57 kills while Iowa State’s setter, Piper Mauck, had 37.

Iowa State’s offense continues to flounder

Iowa State had only one player finish with double digit kills — Jess Schaben, who had 19.

Throughout the whole match, Iowa State had 52 kills and a .190 team hitting percentage while Texas Tech finished with 67 kills and a .324 hitting percentage.

This season, Iowa State has only had a hitting percentage above .300 as a team twice. The last time being Iowa State’s road victory against Northern Iowa on August 29.