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IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Northern Colorado volleyball knocked off its second power-conference opponent this season when it defeated the Big 10's Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday at the Hawkeye Challenge.

The Bears got a team-high 13 kills from senior Taylor Smith, 11 more from sophomore Breanna Williams and a team-high 16 digs from sophomore libero Amanda Arterburn in earning the 3-1 win.

The teams took turn earning decisive victories in the first two games, with Northern Colorado (6-5) coming out on top 25-18 in the first, and the Hawkeyes (6-2) storming back for a 25-12 win in the second.

A nailbiting, back-and-forth 32-30 game-three triumph highlighted the match victory for the Bears, who then sealed the deal with a 25-19 win in game four.

Northern Colorado, now 2-0 (with a 6-1 game record) against Big 10 and Big 12 (Colorado) programs this season, will open 2009 Big Sky Conference play Thursday night, Sept. 17, at home against Weber State.

"This was a great turnaround today after losing the way we did to Drake last night," Northern Colorado coach Lyndsey Benson said. "I'm really proud of the way our girls responded today. We knew we were going to have fight hard to get a win against a team like Iowa, and everyone stepped up in their roles and did a great job."

Smith, who earned all-tournament honors during the season's first week at the North Texas Mean Green Classic in her hometown of Denton, Texas, but had been somewhat in a funk every since, re-emerged for the Bears in the victory Saturday.

Her 13 kills against the Hawkeyes were her most since that homecoming tournament, and she also added three digs, two blocks and an assist Saturday.

She seemed to exemplify the type of effort Benson said would be necessary by all of her players if they were to bounce back against such a top-flight program.

"We haven't quite had the overall success we hoped for early on this year, but we've definitely shown some signs, like today," Benson said. "For us to have consistency, all of our girls need to play well, and that happened in this match.

"Amanda was very solid in the libero spot, and our outside hitters (Breanna Williams, Kenzie Shreeve and Kelley Arnold all did a great job. And Taylor Smith led us from the middle-blocker position."

#11 Iowa State 3, Northern Colorado 0

The Bears later in the day ended their Challenge run with a tough 3-0 defeat to the 11th-ranked Cyclones.

Northern Colorado hit just .075 in falling to Iowa State 25-16, 25-18, 25-19.

The Bears got 10 kills from junior Ashley Lichtenberg, who hit .474 in the contest, and  Arterburn finished with a match-high 17 digs.

Lichtenberg, who hails from nearby Bettendorf, Iowa, came into the Challenge with a Big Sky-leading .431 hitting percentage on the season, and she leaves the event and into this week's start of conference play with a stellar .413 mark.

She also earned a spot on the Hawkeye Challenge all-tournament team, giving the Bears at least one all-tourney representative in each of their three pre-conference play tournaments this season.

"Knocking off Iowa on its home floor was huge for our program," Benson said, "and it was also great for our girls to get to play against a team like Iowa State and have still have some good performances. Ashley has been so consistent all season, and she continued that big time this weekend in her home state."

2009 IOWA HAWKEYE CHALLENGE ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

• MVP – Victoria Henson, ISU

• Best libero – Ashley Moss, ISU

• Deb Stadick, ISU

• Kaylee Manns, ISU

• Ashley Lichtenberg, UNC

• Aimee Huffman, Iowa

• Alisa DeBerg Roth, Drake

• Chelsea Lauersdorf, Drake