Iowa State and Oklahoma have both claimed the 25th spot in the American Volleyball Coaches Association rankings in the past two weeks.

This weekend, the Cyclones and the Sooners will have a chance to compete for a longer stay in the top 25.

The No. 25 ISU volleyball team (15-6, 8-2 Big 12) will host Oklahoma (18-6, 6-4 Big 12) in the second of two meetings this season on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Hilton Coliseum. Oklahoma won the first match on Oct. 5 in Norman, Okla., winning in five sets.

ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch believes the keys for the Cyclones matchup with the Sooners relate to areas of the game that have been impacted the team’s performance throughout the season.

“The thing we know that we’ve really learned this year is we must serve well, pass well and play defense,” Johnson-Lynch said. “If we do those things, it puts us in position to beat just about anybody, but anytime we get in a match where one of those three things doesn’t happen, it really puts us in a tough situation.”

A consistently aggressive effort, something the team believes they were unable to fully accomplish in their latest match, a 3-0 win against South Dakota on Tuesday, Nov. 5, will also be crucial.

“I thought at times we were really aggressive and at other times we were lackadaisical,” said Mackenzie Bigbee, sophomore right side hitter, of the team’s most recent effort. “I think we really just need to work on being consistent every night, coming out and giving 100 percent.”

Iowa State, tied for second in the Big 12 with Kansas, will take a five-game winning streak into its match against fourth-place Oklahoma, losers of two in a row.

With five games remaining after Saturday, an ISU win against Oklahoma would put a three-game gap between the two teams and would keep the Cyclones within shouting distance of first-place Texas, which is 10-0 in Big 12 play.

Though the team still has a shot at a conference title, Johnson-Lynch is more focused on preparing the team for a potential NCAA tournament run and capping off the season in similar fashion to last year, when the team won its final 10 regular season matches.

“Our goal is to win out,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We did it last year, that’s a huge task. We’ve got a lot of tough matches, but that is our goal. If we can do that, we’ll put ourselves in great position for NCAA’s. We want to do great in the Big 12, but we’ve got the bigger picture in mind.”