How ’bout them Cyclones?

Yeah, we know what the score the Cyclone football game was. We were there, mostly.

It wasn’t all bad, either, and we’ll get back to that in a bit.

The ladies of the volleyball and soccer teams both made strong showings this weekend, and are on some awesome streaks as they approach conference play.

Volleyball absolutely stomped the Hawkeyes, thanks to some fantastic hitting from Jamie Straube, Carly Jenson, Kelsey Petersen and Victoria Henson, notching the first “W” for ISU volleyball in the Cy-Hawk series.

If you pass any of these lovely ladies on campus, congrats are most definitely in order.

Not only is volleyball riding a seven-game winning streak into conference play, the team is coming in with a No. 11 ranking. Wednesday at 7 p.m., the Cyclones host No. 7 Nebraska at a sold-out Ames High. If you’re not among the lucky 1,500 who snagged season tickets, the game will also be carried on ESPNU.

With Nebraska leaving for the Big Ten next season, this will be the last time these teams meet in conference play.

Back-to-back victories against Iowa and Nebraska? That’s what Cyclone dreams are made of.

But the fun doesn’t stop there — the ladies of the soccer team ended Illinois State’s three-game winning streak Sunday with a 2-0 victory.

Not only had the Redbirds won 22 of their last 26 home contests, they were also the Missouri Valley Conference season and tournament champs.

Both goals came courtesy of freshman Brittany Morgan in the form of a penalty kick at 31:10 and off of a blocked Erin Green shot at 75:46, and were her first and second collegiate goals.

Coach Wendy Dillinger praised Caitlin Graboski’s command of the midfield on Sunday, and keeper Maddie Jobe notched five saves in 90 minutes for her third shutout.

The Cyclones (5-1-2) host Iowa (6-1) Friday at 6:30 p.m. as part of the Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk series in their first true home game since summer flooding swamped the ISU Soccer Complex.

If Saturday’s game left a bad taste in your mouth, just remember: There are more Hawkeyes to yell at.

Speaking of Saturday’s game, while a 35-7 thumping from big brother U wasn’t the result we’d hoped for, there was a hefty amount of silver lining in the cloud.

First of all, Paul Rhoads is every bit the coach he’s cracked up to be, and his poise and good nature at the postgame conference was beyond admirable.

Rhoads didn’t hesitate to heap the praise on the Hawkeye defense, and considering how thoroughly we were manhandled, that was a classy thing to do.

Austen Arnaud, although obviously and visibly dejected, should keep his head held high — Iowa’s easily a dark-horse BCS contender. And rest assured, they’ll be handing other teams their hindparts all season long.

We’re also pulling for Matt Tau’fo’ou and wish him a speedy recovery.

We hope the defense can manage the lineup re-shuffling, and with the caliber of coaching we have, we’re confident they will.

Guys, a bit of column-coaching for next week: Don’t get beat deep, wrap up your tackles and save the emotions for the locker room. You know who you are.