Not looking past an opponent is something every coach preaches. The ISU volleyball team made sure not to overlook Kansas on their way to playing Texas on Friday night. 

No. 14 Iowa State (17-3 8-1 Big 12) swept the Jayhawks (13-9 1-8) on Wednesday night at Hilton Coliseum (25-15, 25-16, 25-11). The Jayhawks’ only lead of the match came in set two when they led 1-0. 

“I think that’s what we wanted to see,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “I felt like we broke them down serve- and pass-wise, and it’s really hard to get going if you’re struggling passing.”

The Cyclones completely controlled the match, having recorded more kills, assists, aces, digs and blocks than the visiting Jayhawks. 

On the offensive end, Iowa State kept up its balanced attack. Even with the Cyclones recording the lowest amount of kills this year, Johnson-Lynch said she was pleased with the performance.

“We’ve been workin on some things this week,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We’ve been trying to be just a little bit more creative by moving some people around, so that was good to see.”

On the attack, no player went into double-digit kills and 10 Cyclones recorded at least one kill. Four players hit on at least a .667 clip and two hit .750. 

Tenisha Matlock and Kelsey Petersen hit .667 and had most of their kills come from quick sets in the middle and on the back side. 

Coming off of the bench, senior Debbie Stadick and sophomore Hannah Johnson were inserted into the lineup and delivered in a big way, both hitting .750 and recording a block assist each. 

“We had some people come off the bench, and I thought they did a terrific job,” Johnson-Lynch said. “Debbie has been tremendous this season, I can’t say enough about how supportive she’s been.

“She is ready to go, so the great thing is if anyone struggles she’s ready to go, if we have an injury I have no worries putting Deb Stadick in because she’s ready to go.”

On Friday, the Cyclones will head to Austin, Texas, to face No. 9 Texas for the second time this year. Earlier this year, the Cyclones lost a heartbreaking, five-set match to the Longhorns at Hilton.

The entire team has been waiting to get back to Texas, but they kept reminding each other not to overlook the Jayhawks. 

“Sometimes when we have a big match coming up like on Friday, it’s easy to look ahead,” said junior Jamie Straube. “Everyone was saying ‘Kansas first,’ so I thought we did a really good job just focusing on them tonight.”