Schaben helps ISU take down 5th-ranked ‘Horns’

 AMES -- Jess Schaben and her Iowa State volleyball teammates had been in this position before.
 On October 8 in Austin, Texas, the Cyclones rallied back from an 0-2 deficit to force a fifth set against the University of Texas, but came up on the short end of a 15-10 score and fell to 1-4 in Big 12 Conference play.
 Five weeks later, Iowa State was not going to be denied in the rematch in Ames.
 Once again battling from behind, the Cyclones dropped sets one and three against the fifth-ranked Longhorns but held off a furious UT rally to win set four and this time never trailed in set five to cap a hard-fought 23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 15-11 victory at Hilton Coliseum on Saturday.
 ISU’s season-high sixth straight win improved their record to 16-9 overall and 8-5 in the Big 12, just a half-game behind Baylor for third place in the league standings. It was the Cyclones’ first win over Texas since 2012 - snapping a seven-match slide in the series - and just the fifth in 44 all-time meetings.
 Schaben, a 6-foot-3 sophomore outside hitter from rural Defiance, finished the day with 15 kills (.224 efficiency) and 18 digs as Iowa State greatly enhanced its postseason chances by winning for the eighth time in nine tries since that five-set loss in Austin.