During the past week, the Texas Tech Red Raiders dealt with two offensive explosions by two separate ISU offenses.

The first came Saturday night on the field at Jack Trice Stadium in a 52-38 victory for the Cyclones. The second came Wednesday night on the court at Ames High as the Cyclones hit for a season-best and all-time 10th-best .441 hitting percentage in their three-set sweep of the Red Raiders.

With the Cyclones leading the Big 12 and sitting at 20th in the country with a .285 hitting percentage, the 2010 squad is in position to break the school record in hitting percentage once again after the record was broken in 2008 and 2009.

So, is this the best offensive team that sixth-year coach Christy Johnson-Lynch has put on the court?

“I think it might be,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I think a big part of that is that I’ve never had two outsides hit for this high of percentage. I mean, it’s really crazy to have two outsides hit that well, and last night was another example of what great numbers they’re putting up.”

Outside hitters Victoria Henson and Carly Jenson combined for 27 kills and a .500 hitting percentage in leading an offensive attack that has become more balanced as the Big 12 Conference season continues.

In addition to the Henson-Jenson duo, three other Cyclones — junior right side hitter Kelsey Petersen, sophomore middle blocker Jamie Straube and sophomore setter Alison Landwehr — have all reached double-digit kills in a match this season.

“Most teams you have two — maybe three if you’re lucky — really offensive players, and on any given night we have four or five, so that’s a nice luxury to have,” Johnson-Lynch said.

Henson, who started on the 2008 and 2009 squads, agreed that this 2010 team is the best offensive team she has played for in her ISU career.

“For sure, I mean, over the past few years we probably didn’t have as balanced of an attack, but now everybody is pretty effective, which makes it a lot easier on our team and a lot harder for other teams, because they have to watch for one hitter at a time,” Henson said.

Henson and the rest of the Cyclones will travel to the Sunflower State on Saturday to take on the Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence, Kan. The trip to Lawrence will mark one of the final chances that Henson, a Leavenworth native, will have to play in front of family and friends in her home state.

“It’s a really good environment to play in. They get a lot of fans, it’s pretty crowded, and it will be nice just to play in front of my family one more time,” Henson said.

Henson is now tied atop the Big 12 kills list along with Kelsey Black of Texas A&M, as they both average 4.10 kills per set.

On the flip side, although Iowa State’s offense had its best performance of the year, Johnson-Lynch was disappointed to see a season low of only two total team blocks for the Cyclones. She hopes to have her team better prepared for a Kansas team that has a number of experienced hitters.

“I thought, defensively, digging we were fine; blocking is what we have to address,” Johnson-Lynch said. “I thought we had several opportunities to block balls and we just dismissed it, just got beat down the front or off the hands a little bit, so we’ll work on that today and over the next couple days to make sure we keep that skill sharp.”

Straube, the team’s leading blocker, averages 1.06 blocks per set, which is good enough for 10th in the Big 12 this season.

“Our blocking obviously wasn’t as strong as we wanted it last night,” Straube said. “We were talking and we realized that our blocking wasn’t working, so we had to find other ways to contribute and other ways to score.”

Although most players enjoy going for a big kill in practice, Straube finds satisfaction in going up at the net with both arms outstretched to block her teammates at practice.

“I like blocking; it’s actually my favorite. That’s why I get really frustrated when I can’t get it,” Straube said at practice Thursday. “I think it will be good today to get some reps. Sometimes it’s good just to go back and focus on blocking.”

The Cyclones are right in the middle of the pack in the Big 12, at sixth in blocks per set, averaging 2.25 per set.

“Passing isn’t that exciting of a skill, and blocking isn’t always that exciting of a skill, but they’re so important,” Johnson-Lynch said. “You have to have passion for them even if they’re not the most exciting drills or skills in the world.”

The Jayhawks (11-6, 2-4 in Big 12) have had an entire week to prepare for the Cyclones following a 3-2 loss to Texas Tech on Saturday. The pair of Big 12 wins for the Jayhawks came at home in the Horejsi Family Athletics Center against Texas A&M and Missouri.

Johnson-Lynch compared the environment of the center, which holds only 1,300 fans, to the 2,000-fan capacity of Ames High School, the Cyclones’ home venue for the 2010 season.

Pre-season All-Big 12 outside hitter senior Karina Garlington leads a Jayhawks team that is coming off of its first winning season since 2004. Since that season, the Cyclones are 9-1 against the Jayhawks.

“They’re a good team, they’re athletic and I think on any given night they can be a really good team,” Johnson-Lynch said. “They have pretty experienced hitters and a pretty experienced setter, so we’ll have a couple of people we’ll need to focus on and slow down, but I think we just have to make sure our side is ready to play.”

The first serve Saturday in Lawrence, Kan., is set for 6:30 p.m.