After the Cyclones were swept out of Manhattan, Kan., by the Wildcats on Oct. 3, something had to change.

The match against then-ranked No. 14 Kansas State should have been far more competitive than the final stat line, and the match left the team with several areas to address. That is when seniors Rachel Hockaday, Jamie Straube and Alison Landwehr stepped in.

“Without them, I don’t know where we would be,” said freshman Mackenzie Bigbee. “Not anywhere close to where we are now.”

The three seniors met outside of practice following the loss and took the issues into their own hands in hopes of figuring what was keeping the team from achieving its full potential. To their credit, Iowa State rebounded from the loss with a 3-1 victory against Texas Tech, followed by a 3-0 sweep against West Virginia.

But their work wasn’t done yet. On several occasions this season, the Cyclones have put potential wins in jeopardy by coming out of the intermission cold.

When coach Christy Johnson-Lynch couldn’t find a solution to the problem despite trying a few different things in practice, she turned to her seniors to do what seniors do.

“They had some great ideas and I feel like they’ve implemented them and it’s been really good, so that right there, I think that has shown a lot of leadership,” Johnson-Lynch said. 

Johnson-Lynch also added that while a lot of things like that go on without her knowing, this is a group that has shown the most ownership and initiative in those areas. 

One would think taking the reins and wanting to make changes from within is something Hockaday and her fellow seniors learned from the upperclassmen they played under when they got to Iowa State.

That is not the case this time, however, but rather merely recognizing an issue and having the desire to take the lead.

“It’s not about following anybody else; it’s just about us three realizing there needs to be a change, and it starts at the top,” Hockaday said. 

Currently, the No. 22 Cyclones (10-6, 4-2 Big 12) reside in fifth place in the conference.

In a season where the team has gone head-to-head with some of the top teams in the country, that senior leadership has not only been important off the court, but on it as well.

Without Hockaday, Straube and Landwehr, the Cyclones would need to fill a void of nearly one-third of their kills and 86 percent of their assists.

Johnson-Lynch said she is already not looking forward to losing them next year and only time will tell if they will need to put their heads together on another problem as the season moves on.

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Cory Weaver is a senior in journalism from Maple Grove, Minn.