After being swept by No. 14 Kansas State on the road Wednesday, Iowa State will get back in action again on Saturday.

This time, No. 22 Iowa State (8-6, 2-2 Big 12) heads south for a matchup with a struggling Texas Tech (11-8, 0-3). The Red Raiders are currently riding a seven-match losing streak, but ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said it’s not going to be that easy to come away with a win.

“It’s on the road — I think even though Tech is struggling, we’re going to have to be ready. It can be a very tough gym to play in,” Johnson-Lynch said. “They have troubles getting fans there, so sometimes you just have to provide all your own noise and energy to get your team going.”

With back-to-back road matches in such a short period of time, the Cyclones are forced to regroup to start preparing for Texas Tech following the loss on Wednesday.

Sometimes the fatigue starts to set in when a team is traveling all week and doesn’t get a home match in between, but senior Rachel Hockaday said they’re trying to keep just one thing in mind.

“I think the main thing we’re trying to focus on is just being consistent,” Hockaday said. “We know what we’re capable of, so I think just maintaining that high level of play [is what we need to do], especially on road games.”

Iowa State has shown throughout this season that when it’s playing at its best — in the upset against No. 1 Nebraska on Sept. 15 — it can be a tough team to beat.

On the attacking side, Texas Tech’s blockers aren’t as tall as some of the teams Iowa State has seen already. If the passing is accurate, Johnson-Lynch said some movements on offense could be successful against the Red Raiders.

“We’re starting to move our outsiders around a little bit, so maybe our outsiders will appear out by the antenna,” Johnson-Lynch said. “But they’ll come in a little bit and appear in the middle of the court and that’s a way to kind of open that up and go at maybe some smaller middles.”

First serve is set for 11 a.m. Saturday. The Cyclones have not played a morning match since their 3-2 loss to Florida State in the opening weekend.

Johnson-Lynch said not having the entire day to warm up and get loose provides a different dynamic for the contest.

“We’re going to be out of sorts a little bit, so I’m always concerned, I’m always worried that we’re not going to be ready,” Johnson-Lynch said. “But this team has shown that when they need to take care of business they can go out and do that.”