The ISU volleyball team dispatched Northern Iowa from Hilton Coliseum on Wednesday with speed. UNI departed with a straight-set defeat and a little heartache to boot.

ISU hitters Ciara Capezio and Jess Schaben had quite a bit to do with that.

The Panthers entered the match with their attention focused on shutting down the middle blockers for Iowa State. Capezio and Schaben took advantage of their game plan, racking up a total of 24 kills in the three-set sweep of UNI.

“I believe one of their startegies was to focus on our middles throughout the match,” said ISU head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “UNI was saying, ‘Can your outside hitters win the match for you?’ And I believe [our hitters] did a really good job of that throughout the entire match.”

UNI head coach Bobbi Petersen said UNI was concerned with Iowa State’s middle blockers because of their success this past weekend in Iowa City, albeit in a four-set loss to the Hawkeyes.

Petersen believed the Panthers did a great job limiting the ISU middle block, but that they couldn’t handle the outside hitters.

Schaben’s 11 kills and Capezio’s 13 kills added up to more than 50 percent of Iowa State’s kills in the match. These may seem like a regular stat line, but sophomore setter Monique Harris appreciates the quality of the hitters’ consistent efforts.

“I feel like it’s really nice having their consistent play for me because 80 percent of the balls aren’t coming perfect,” Harris said. “It’s nice being able to rely on them even when I’m not in system.”

Including the UNI match, Capezio has amassed 78 kills this season and has only finished with fewer than 10 kills in three matches.

Schaben is leading the team with 130 kills in 2015 and has only failed to reach 10 kills twice this season. Johnson-Lynch said Schaben’s successful start this season could lead to some notable awards by the end of the year — like Big 12 Freshman of the Year, for instance.

Johnson-Lynch said she’s fortunate to have outside hitters who can put up consistent numbers when they’re needed. As for Capezio and Schaben, Johnson-Lynch expects a high level of production because of the location of the two players.

“Your left-side hitters will get most of the sets in a match, so most nights they will get more kills than other players,” Johnson-Lynch said. “It was good to see them come through and put up some good numbers against a good UNI blocking team.”

Senior libero Caitlin Nolan and Harris each said they were happy with the outside hitters in the UNI match, but were even happier sweeping an in-state rival.

The team’s focus turns to No. 4 Nebraska, who they will take on this weekend, and preparing the outside hitters to attack against a physical Cornhusker team.

“Our outside hitters had to perform tonight and that’s what they did,” Johnson-Lynch said. “They answered the call.”