Less than a week after back-to-back five-set losses against two top-20 teams, the Cyclones head to Champagne, Ill., to face another this weekend.

The No. 15 Cyclones (1-2, 0-0 Big 12) take on No. 19 Illinois on Friday and Saturday in hopes of getting back on the winning track.

Despite losing both its games against ranked opponents, the team was happy with its performance last weekend against Florida State and Tennessee. Middle blocker Jamie Straube said finishing with Ws this weekend would be even better.

“It’d be huge,” Straube said. “I just think if we take care of our side of the net and just play our defense, do what we do best, we can definitely compete with them and take them out of that ranking.”

Both teams have some familiarity with each other, which will bring a unique aspect to the nonconference tilt. Last spring, Iowa State and Illinois met at a neutral location and the Cyclones proved victorious by a score of 3-1.

While the Illini have four returning starters and a libero from last season, ISU coach Christy Johnson-Lynch said it doesn’t mean as much as one would think.

“Our team is a little bit different than what they saw in the spring, but I think you can’t really put much stock into what happens in the spring,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I expect them to be similar to the spring but probably a lot better than what we saw.”

After the performance of some of Iowa State’s freshman class last weekend, the Cyclones could provide a better performance than what they gave in the spring as well.

Freshman right side hitter Mackenzie Bigbee shined for the Cyclones in her first collegiate matches. During the three games, Bigbee led the team with 37 kills and played in a way Johnson-Lynch said was extremely rare for a freshman.

Because of that, teams will have her on their radar from now on, and Johnson-Lynch said that means they will need to adjust.

“Now the question is now teams are going to scout her and make adjustments so now we’ve got to be prepared for that and maybe be prepared to give her different looks, different options or be able to feed some other hitters,” Johnson-Lynch said.

The teams will play Friday night at 7 p.m. and again Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Compared to last weekend, when the Cyclones had two long matches with little break in between, the team will have plenty of time to recuperate, and senior Rachel Hockaday said she’s all for it.

“We’re going to be prepared for a top team, we’re going to be prepared for a tough, tough match,” Hockaday said. “I’m glad we’ll have a little rest time in between our games this weekend.”