After a few short weeks, Iowa State’s spring volleyball season is already coming to a close. This weekend’s matchup against former Big 12 foe Nebraska Cornhuskers may be the toughest competition the Cyclones have faced this spring.

A season ago, Nebraska swept Iowa State three sets to none en route to a 26-7 season that saw the Cornhuskers finish the season ranked eighth in the country.

ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch suspects Nebraska will be a top-10 ranked team nationally again this season; she said their weekend matchup will tell where Iowa State is currently at and how much work it still needs to do.

“They’ll put a lot more pressure on us and they’ll exploit our weaknesses probably more than most of the other teams we have been able to play,” Johnson-Lynch said.

While the match against Nebraska will end Iowa State’s spring slate, the Cornhuskers’ spring slate is just beginning with the matchup against the Cyclones.

After competing in two tournaments to begin the spring season, the Cyclones are closing out the season by playing in single match events, more like how things go during the fall season.

As the adjustment from tournament style play to single matches, Johnson-Lynch wants the team to take a more in-season approach to the final two spring matches.

“The past two weekends, we just showed up and played,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We didn’t really scout, we just made adjustments on the fly and that was fine … but we also want to practice executing a scouting report, so we’ll practice that [April 17] and [19].”

In addition to ending the spring slate, the matchup against Nebraska brings a little added flair due to some ISU team members being from Nebraska.

Redshirt freshman Samara West is a native of Omaha, Neb., and junior Bria Rasmussen is a native of Grand Island, Neb.

Besides the players, Johnson-Lynch also has connections to Nebraska. The coach’s hometown is Omaha, Neb., and is a former Cornhusker herself, graduating from Nebraska in 1996.

“I think more that they’re close and they’re good,” Johnson-Lynch said of whether her Nebraska ties had to do with setting up the spring matchup. “We’ve played them just about every year for the past couple of years; it’s a really great opportunity.”

While Johnson-Lynch acknowledged there is a little extra flair when playing against her alma mater, she doesn’t think it’s a whole lot different than playing against anybody else.

“I think it’s been so long, you know? There’s a little bit [extra motivation to win] of course, and I’ll see probably a lot of fans that I know, more than any other team we play, but it’s kind of old hat,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I’m used to it.”

While the team is looking to end the spring season on a strong note, Johnson-Lynch noted it’s not something the team absolutely has to have.

“I don’t think it’s everything,” Johnson-Lynch said of ending the spring season on a high note. “But we hope that it’s an accumulation of everything we’ve worked on this spring.”

The team will also get the chance to travel to Europe this summer and compete against various teams across the pond before the fall season gets under way.

The final spring match will begin at 2 p.m. April 19 at Hilton Coliseum.