Wednesday night, for the third consecutive match, the Cyclones needed to dig themselves out of a hole following a loss in the first set. What better way to dig your way back into a match than, well, dig?

Getting out-dug by 12 to Baylor after the second set, coach Christy Johnson-Lynch challenged her team at the intermission to even up the dig total. The Cyclones exceeded Johnson-Lynch’s expectations, rallying back to defeat the Bears 3-1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-22, 25-19) and edging out the third-best digging team in the country 86-84. The win improved the No. 10 Cyclones to 9-2 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12.

“It was kind of weird because when we play other teams they usually aren’t as good as us defensively, so it was kind of a shock for us,” said junior defensive specialist Caitlin Mahoney. “We were playing a lot of long rallies so it was just about winning those rallies.”

Through three matches in Big 12 conference play the Cyclones are averaging 18.7 digs per set up which is up from 14.7 in the non-conference season.

“It wasn’t our best match and it wasn’t pretty, but even though we didn’t play our best, we can still be proud of coming out with a win against a great team on the road,” Johnson-Lynch said.

With the digging numbers up, the Cyclones have been able to get more opportunities for outside hitters Victoria Henson and Carly Jenson to get swings this season. The Henson-Jenson duo led the Cyclones on Wednesday with 18 and 15 kills respectively.

“We got a lot of attacks that way when we get a lot of balls up so it makes it a lot easier for [setter Alison Landwehr], she gets a lot more opportunities to set the ball so then every set we get better,” Henson said.

The recent improvements on defense have transitioned nicely for the Cyclones offensively as they continue to lead the Big 12 in hitting percentage at .283.

Next up for Johnson-Lynch’s squad are the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners (10-3, 2-0 in Big 12) came into this season ranked right behind the Cyclones at fourth in the pre-season Big 12 poll.

The Sooners finished fourth in the Big 12 last season and were bounced out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament by No. 15 USC. The Cyclones swept the Sooners last season, with a 3-1 victory on the road and a 3-0 sweep at Hilton Coliseum.

“They have a couple of lefties on their team, which is always difficult to prepare for and they’ve always been a great defensive team,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We have to make sure not to get frustrated by them keeping the ball in the air for some long rallies.”

The Sooners two victories in Big 12 play came with a 3-0 win over Colorado and a 3-1 victory against Texas Tech on Wednesday. Oklahoma will face their third top 25 team of the season in the Cyclones, following non-conference losses to No. 13 Florida State and No. 20 Tennessee.

Junior right side hitter Suzy Boulavsky leads the Sooners offensively averaging 3.5 kills per set, and sophomore libero Maria Fernanda averages 4.4 digs per set for the Sooner defense. Junior Brianne Barker, a pre-season All-Big 12 honoree, is third in the conference averaging just over 10 assists per set.

Johnson-Lynch has noticed the slow starts to her team’s matches and is hoping to change that in practice so that they can be prepared to start quickly against the Sooners on Saturday.

“It really took until the fourth set for us to get going [against Baylor] so as coaches we need to start practice in a quicker and more competitive fashion, making sure that [setter Alison Landwehr] can get in a rhythm and put up good hittable balls,” Johnson-Lynch said.

The first serve in the Ames High gymnasium is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday. For live in-match analysis from Iowa State Daily reporters Kelsey Jacobs and Jake Calhoun, check out iowastatedaily.net.