Many would argue the volleyball team is coming off one of its best seasons under coach Christy Johnson-Lynch.

Led to a 13-3 conference record into the NCAA tournament, Johnson-Lynch and her squad advanced as far as the Elite Eight only to lose to No. 12 seed Florida State in a grueling five-set match.

This year, Johnson-Lynch said the strong non-conference play will play a factor in how the postseason could play out for the Cyclones.

“Scheduling in volleyball is so important,” Johnson-Lynch said. “RPI is weighed so heavily for seeding in the NCAA tournament.”

Johnson-Lynch said that from her point of view, she likes to schedule as tough of a nonconference schedule as she can and still make the tournament.

Notable matches during nonconference play this season include No. 7 Illinois, No. 12 Florida State and No. 14 Tennessee. All of those matches will be played in the first tournament of the season.

Big 12 newcomers’ impact on schedule

With the departure of Missouri and Texas A&M from the Big 12 and the addition of both West Virginia and Texas Christian, the strength of the conference schedule fluctuates between the four teams.

Johnson-Lynch said she had to factor in the realignment of the Big 12 when creating the schedule.

“I wanted to make sure we have a pretty tough preseason to help our RPI and to help prepare us for the overall season,” Johnson-Lynch said.

Freshman Andie Malloy said she was excited to have Texas Christian and West Virginia join the Big 12.

“TCU will be the closest place to my house and West Virginia is also a good program,” Malloy said. “I really like the coach that they have. I met her through USA Volleyball.”

Morgan Kuhrt, also an incoming freshman this year, commented on the addition of West Virginia and Texas Christian to the Big 12 conference as well: “It will be fun to have some new competition and new teams to play. … We’ll just have to see what’s out there.”

Malloy and Kuhrt join six other freshmen that were part of the Cyclones’ No. 6 recruiting class during the offseason.

The Cyclones kick off their season playing in the Comcast Lady Vol Classic against Cincinnati, Florida State and Tennessee on Aug. 24 in Knoxville, Tenn.