The spring volleyball season didn’t end on the note coach Christy Johnson-Lynch — nor the team — wanted it to, but that doesn’t mean it was anything less than productive.

After dropping the spring finale at home to Nebraska on Saturday, it was tough for Johnson-Lynch to see the positives following the 3-1 loss to her alma mater. The play of her underclassmen this spring is one thing that immediately came to mind and she said she was pleased with how they did.

“For me, probably the most satisfying has been seeing those younger players get playing time and make the most of it,” Johnson-Lynch said.

The team began its season with a doubleheader against North Dakota State and Creighton. Iowa State kicked off its first competition since the NCAA tournament last December with a 2-0 sweep of the Bison, but the Cyclones hit a bump in the road in the end cap.

Creighton served Iowa State its first loss of the spring in the 2-1 match, but the defeat turned into the spring’s turning point following some choice words from Johnson-Lynch after the match.

“Christy kind of hit on it [Saturday night], we’ve been a top team for about five or six years, but it’s going to take a lot more than how we played at that Creighton game to get us to the next level,” said senior Rachel Hockaday. “After that tournament, we all looked at each other and we said if we want to be a great team, we need to step it up and that means every day in practice just working as hard as we can to get better.”

The Cyclones turned the corner and rebounded with wins against Missouri and defending runner-up Illinois to assure themselves they can play with the best.

One player Johnson-Lynch was happy to see improve this spring was outside hitter Victoria Hurtt, who was instrumental to the team’s success. The freshman tallied 59 kills during the five-match season while leading the team in four of them.

Even more importantly in Johnson-Lynch’s eyes, however, was Hurtt’s ability to move around the court.

“We wanted Victoria Hurtt to get experience in the back row, be a primary passer, play defense,” Johnson-Lynch said. “She made huge, huge strides in that, so I’m thrilled to see that.”

Sisters Taylor and Tory Knuth both came into the spring vying for more playing time. Taylor, a junior, and Tory, a redshirt freshman, made big improvements on both sides of the net, which could translate to more playing time come August.

Another major storyline to come out of the spring season was Hockaday. The senior suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first match of 2010 and was only able to play in 25 matches last fall, primarily in the back row.

Now, the knee brace has been thrown away and Hockaday said she has no pain in the knee anymore and feels as good as she ever has. Jamie Straube said she noticed a new attitude in Hockaday as well.

“She just has more fire in her,” Straube said. “I always thought she had it before, so just having her in the front row with me too has been really fun because she just works so hard to see that pay off.”

In addition to giving players a chance to improve their games against opponents, the spring season offers a gauge to see how the team will fare once the regular season begins.

Like this spring, Iowa State faces a rigorous nonconference schedule in the fall against some of the top-ranked teams in the country. Johnson-Lynch said this spring served as a precursor to that but hopes her team will do what it has to do during the summer to be successful.

“We’re going to have to be really ready to go, so my hope is this [Nebraska game] will motivate our players to work very hard over the summer and be ready to go in August,” Johnson-Lynch said.

Losing Carly Jenson left a substantial hole on the offensive side for the Cyclones. Jenson led the team in kills as a senior last season, but setter Alison Landwehr said they’ve accepted the fact and are ready to move forward.

“We know what we need to work on, we know kind of where we’re at and what we need to get better at,” Landwehr said. “So that just gives a good indicator of what we need to work on this summer.”

The Cyclones will now finish up their final week of school before beginning summer workouts. The team will participate in open gyms and weight training during the offseason and pick up play in August once the regular season begins.