For two ISU freshmen volleyball players, Saturday’s trip to Fort Worth, Texas, will provide a homecoming of their own.

When No. 22 Iowa State (12-7, 6-3 Big 12) travels to Texas on Saturday to take on Texas Christian (13-8, 2-6), freshmen Caitlin Nolan and Andie Malloy will return to their home state.

ISU Head Coach Christy Johnson-Lynch has seen playing close to home affect players in different ways.

“Some embrace it; some get really nervous and put too much into it,” Johnson-Lynch said.

Iowa State faced TCU at Hilton Coliseum in late September. The Cyclones swept the Horned Frogs in straight sets in that match.

In that match, Nolan played in all three sets and contributed 10 digs while Malloy played in one set, picking up one kill and three digs.

Malloy and Nolan are both from within 45 minutes of Fort Worth, and they will see familiar faces on the other side of the net. They both agreed the trip will be more exciting than nerve-racking.

“A lot of the players on that team were very good in my area, and I’ve played against them all my life,” Malloy said. “So [I’m] definitely pumped up to play them and see them.”

The trip to the state of Texas is one of four the team makes each season. The Cyclones have already traveled to Austin and Lubbock for matches with Texas and Texas Tech.

“It’s nice to be able to go back to Texas,” Malloy said. “That was a big reason that I chose Iowa State, because they travel to Texas a lot.”

Johnson-Lynch said while she believes both freshmen will embrace the opportunity to play close to home, there will still be pressure on the team to perform well.

The Cyclones began the second half of their Big 12 schedule on Wednesday with a 3-1 victory against No. 17 Kansas. Iowa State sits in fourth place in the conference and is still trying to ‘climb the ladder.’

“You’re a bubble team, and every one counts,” Johnson-Lynch said. “TCU is very important; we can’t go down there and play poorly and then [the Kansas win] doesn’t matter anymore.”

TCU currently has two victories on the season: one against a winless West Virginia and another against a one-win Texas Tech. Ranked in the top-25, Johnson-Lynch said sometimes the mismatch can add pressure.

“When you’re supposed to win and you kind of have to win, you feel a tremendous amount of pressure,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Just because of the way teams are viewed in rankings sometimes you feel like ‘OK, we have to win this one.'”

One thing that might be on Iowa State’s side is fan support. Both Malloy and Nolan except high school teammates, friends and family in attendance on Saturday.

“I’m hoping they’re all wearing red,” Nolan said.