After suffering a concussion during weight training in practice on Monday, Nov. 11, sophomore setter Jenelle Hudson did not play in Iowa State’s match on the road against West Virginia on the following Wednesday.

Following a weekend with no matches, the sophomore setter is “good to go” for the No. 24 ISU volleyball team’s match against No. 22 Kansas on Wednesday.

Hudson said she was hit in the head by a weight bar in the weight room and lost consciousness for a little bit.

“I went to go put the weight away and when I turned my head around the bar hit me straight in the head,” Hudson said.

ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said that there are no worries about the injury lingering going forward.

“She wouldn’t have been able to play, that just wasn’t going to happen, but it wasn’t real severe,” Johnson-Lynch said. “She did great over the weekend and she should be good to go.”

Sophomore setter Taylor Goetz played against West Virginia in her absence and had 32 assists, 12 digs and one service ace in the sweep of the Mountaineers. Hudson thought Goetz did a “really good job” playing in her absence.

“[Goetz] really stepped up for us and that’s what we needed so she did a really good job,” Hudson said.

Johnson-Lynch said that Goetz was “pretty awesome” in last week’s match filling in as the setter.

“I just can’t say enough about what she did for our team that day stepping in to the setting role really without much preparation, just pretty awesome performance from her,” Johnson-Lynch said. “The team rallied around her and she was key to last week. I’m really proud of her and happy for her.”

Competing for a chance to host the NCAA tournament

The Cyclones are No. 21 in the latest RPI rankings that came out Monday and are competing for a top-16 spot and a chance to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament, which is scheduled for Dec. 5-7.

Johnson-Lynch said she has been keeping a very close eye on the RPI rankings as the regular season nears its end.

“We feel we’ll probably have to win out to have a shot so that’s where we’re at and we’re really excited,” Johnson-Lynch said. “It’s a really awesome opportunity the next two weeks and we’re trying to embrace it and be excited about it and do everything we can to make our case.”

The Cyclones have four matches to go in the regular season starting with No. 22 Kansas this Wednesday in Ames, TCU in Fort Worth, Texas on Saturday, No. 1 Texas in Ames on Wednesday, Nov. 27 and then Kansas State in Manhattan, Kan. on Saturday, Nov. 30.