Senior day was as it should have been for the ISU volleyball team — well, almost.

The Cyclones conquered adversity early in their regular-season finale against Baylor on Nov. 29, coming back from a 22-24 deficit in the first set to win by a score of 26-24. Iowa State also got the chance to have a little fun by dominating the second and third sets by scores of eight and 10 respectively.

Iowa State’s two seniors both got time on the court, with outside hitter Victoria Hurtt and backup defensive specialist Taylor Goetz getting to play one last guaranteed match before the crowd of 2,284 cardinal-and-gold faithful.

Hurtt put on a show that ISU fans have become accustomed to when she’s on the floor, combing powerful attacks with stout defense en route to hitting .333 with seven kills and three block assists.

“It was exciting but bittersweet at the same time,” Hurtt said. “I mean being able to play with this team has been amazing and being able to play with this coaching staff has been great.”

Though the post-game ceremony was dedicated to Hurtt and her lone senior companion, it was freshman Alexis Conaway who put on a performance of near-historic proportions.

Conaway tallied 10 kills on the afternoon, the ninth time this season she reached that mark in a match. She also had three block assists, but those are almost a given every time she rolls out of bed on match day. Instead she stole the show through her efficiency.

Conaway racked up her 10 kills on just 13 swings and, by committing no attacking errors, finished with .769 hitting percentage, the second-best single-match mark in ISU history.

As she always does, however, Conaway insisted her performance was the product of her teammates’ strong showings and just doing her job.

“I think our ball handling was really good, so that helped,” Conaway said. “They were just going one-on-one in the middle so that enabled me to have space to hit around them.”

Though it was one of the most efficient offensive displays in team history, ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said she wasn’t surprised by it.

Conaway battled a mid-week illness that had Johnson-Lynch questioning if she could play in the Cyclones’ match against Texas Tech on Nov. 26, but in practice Nov. 28 Johnson-Lynch could tell that was in the past.

“I could tell [Nov. 28] she was feeling much better. She was jumping better, she looked stronger,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I told the setters before this match, ‘I think [Conaway] could have a big night tonight,’ because she just looked fresh to me and was feeling a heck of a lot better.”

Although Conaway shined brightest on the stat sheet, the stage belonged to Hurtt and Goetz, who will have to earn every single chance to don their ISU jerseys going forward into the NCAA tournament.

It may be a small graduating class by most years’ standards, but the mark Johnson-Lynch said the senior duo has left is anything but.

“I think their character,” Johnson-Lynch said of what sticks out about Hurtt and Goetz. “They’re so different — very, very different personalities — but both have tremendous character. Goetz is such a good, kind, caring person who put team before self so many times. Hurtt is such a competitor. They both taught a lot to our younger players.”