The outside hitters for ISU volleyball had little trouble establishing their presence against their conference foe, West Virginia, on Oct. 21.

Notching more than 75 percent of the Cyclones’ total kills on the night, the outside hitters led Iowa State (12-6, 5-2 Big 12) to a quick 3-0 sweep of West Virginia (5-15, 0-7 Big 12) at Hilton Coliseum (25-20, 25-11, 25-16). The win moved the Cyclones to 4-0 in Big 12 home matches this season.

Led by freshman Jess Schaben and junior Ciara Capezio, the ISU outside hitters recorded 33 out of Iowa State’s 43 total kills on a combined .492 hitting percentage — over .100 better than the team’s overall percentage of .381.

“I thought our outside [hitters] were excellent,” said ISU volleyball coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “Zero errors between Capezio and Schaben. That’s pretty remarkable.”

As Johnson-Lynch mentioned, despite Schaben and Capezio’s combined 36 attacks on the match, not one attack resulted in an error — a fate that’s only happened twice for either Schaben or Capezio. Both players also recorded season-highs in hitting percentage during the match.

Redshirt junior Morgan Kuhrt and freshman Grace Lazard joined in on the success of the outside hitters against the Mountaineers, adding six and five kills on the match, respectively.

“We hit really well,” Capezio said. “We hit high, and we just went for it. I don’t think any of us were timid and tipped a lot. We all hit hard and swung to see what we could do.”

Schaben and Capezio recorded identical numbers in the opening set, each notching five kills on a .556 hitting percentage despite the Cyclones winning the set by just five points. In the second set, the other outside hitters joined in the success as Kuhrt added four kills of her own.

The 25-11 second set defeat of the Mountaineers was West Virginia’s largest set loss on the season, holding the Mountaineers to a -.071 hitting percentage on the set.

The Cyclones just handed the Mountaineers their worst set loss this season at 25-11. Their previous worst was their 12-25 loss to No. 12 KU.

— Kevin Horner (@kevin_jhorner) October 22, 2015

Schaben was quick to credit her teammates with the outsides’ attacking success.

“Our passing was so good tonight,” Schaben said. “Even Abby [Phillips] came in and passed great, and Nolan, of course, was always on fire.”

The large leads created by the Cyclones allowed Johnson-Lynch to throw several different players into the rotations, specifically those who had yet to see a significant amount of time on the court. Every eligible Cyclones that suited up saw action at some point during the match.

Freshman Hannah Bailey, who had only played in three sets prior to tonight, entered during the opening set — smashing a set from sophomore Mo Harris late in the set. Junior Suzanne Horner also saw the floor during the first set as Johnson-Lynch tried out both the 5-1 and 6-2 formations early on.

Now Hannah Bailey checking in for Kuhrt in the front to get some playing time. 20-11 ISU. #Cyclones

— Cyclone Volleyball (@CycloneVB) October 21, 2015

“Hannah Bailey had a couple really nice swings,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I think fans got to see a glimpse of what she’s going to be. So [I was] pleased that we could see some different combinations out there.”

The Cyclones will now use these three days to prepare for Baylor as they will travel down to Waco, Tex. to face the Bears on Oct. 25.