A player like Mackenzie Bigbee is rare.

The freshman from Williamsburg is left-handed — something that does not come along often for a right side hitter. Equally as rare is her strong performance just three matches into her collegiate career.

“Bigbee is the real deal,” said ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “She’s a great player; she’s a great offensive player; she’s a great blocker — a great athlete.”

In her first weekend of action for the Cyclones, Bigbee handled her own in three matches, two of which were tallied as five-set losses against No. 12 Florida State and No. 15 Tennessee.

Johnson-Lynch said Bigbee looked like a veteran on the court, and her numbers agreed. Through three matches, Bigbee lead the team with 37 kills — a tough feat for a freshman.

“Very difficult, very rare,” Johnson-Lynch said of a Bigbee’s kill numbers. “Freshmen are] usually really nervous, [and] physically they’re often times not able to match up yet; it takes them a couple years.”

It took Bigbee just a couple matches. Johnson-Lynch said the next test will be in the coming weeks as teams prepare for what Bigbee has to offer.

“She’s very low-key, but when she goes up for a kill, it’s pretty demonstrative,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Teams are going to have a tough time against her, and we’ll start to see teams now scouting her and coming up with game plans to slow her down.”

Bigbee said her first weekend of action provided more fun than nerves, adding, now that she is under the spotlight, she will simply have to keep improving.

“I’m sure some teams probably will [have a game plan],” Bigbee said. “But all I can do is work to keep developing my offense to keep them on the edge.”

Team shows resiliency in two losses

In the third set against Florida State, the Cyclones fell behind quick. Iowa State was unable to fight back in the set, falling to the Seminoles 25-11.

Down 2-1 in the match, Johnson-Lynch said the team could have ceded.

“There were several moments over the weekend where we could have just given up, and I think a lesser team would have,” Johnson-Lynch said. “That’s part of why I was excited about the weekend — we just showed a lot of resilience.”

Instead of letting Florida State roll to an easy match victory, Iowa State battled to a 27-25 win in the fourth set to force a fifth. The Cyclones would lose that match, but the battle showed what the team has to offer.

“We showed a lot of resiliency this weekend,” said senior outside hitter, Rachael Hockaday. “It’s easy to lay down, especially after that third game. [The turnaround] shows a lot about our team and that we’re ready to fight.

“We’re resilient, that’s something you can’t teach.”

Later that Saturday, against another top-15 team in Tennessee, the Cyclones again fought to a fifth set. Iowa State would fall to a 1-2 start in its season, losing the fifth set 15-4.

But Johnson-Lynch was happy with the weekend nonetheless.

“You could literally see a point where we hit the wall and we had no jump, nothing left in us,” Johnson-Lynch said of the match against Tennessee. “They continued to fight and do everything they could.”

Attendance record shows rise in volleyball program

When Johnson-Lynch arrived at Iowa State in 2005, the volleyball program had never averaged more than 857 fans per match. They didn’t even sell season tickets.

Earlier this week, the volleyball program reached 923 season tickets sold for the 2012 season, a record surpassing last year’s mark of 876. Single-match tickets are also a factor; last season the team averaged 2,225 fans per home match. 

Johnson-Lynch said fans have been a key factor to the success the team has seen in her tenure, which has included six trips to the NCAA tournament.

“They are a big part of why we are more successful now — because they have created a home-court advantage in Hilton,” Johnson-Lynch said. “That didn’t really exist when I first got here.”

Even the players have taken notice.

“I’ll talk to people and they’ll say: ‘I invited my friend, and now they’re getting season tickets,'” said senior middle blocker Jamie Straube. “So just to see how it’s spread has been really cool.”

Aside from winning matches, which the Cyclones often did at Hilton in 2011 — going 13-3 in front of the home crowd — fans have helped in recruiting.

This year’s class of seven incoming freshmen was ranked No. 6 in the nation, and Johnson-Lynch said a big part of the draw to Iowa State was the atmosphere.

“It means when recruits walk in and they see a packed house, they’re going to want to come here and play in that atmosphere,” Johnson-Lynch said. “It’s huge for win-loss and home-court advantage, but it’s huge for recruiting too.

“It really helps a recruit say yes to Iowa State.”