Eight games ago, the ISU volleyball team walked off the court in Waco, Texas, upset and unhappy after they had just dropped a three-set match to Baylor. To make matters worse for the Cyclones, they also fell to 1-2 in the Big 12.

“When we had the loss to Baylor, it was a wake-up call for us; we can do better,” said freshman middle blocker Jamie Straube.

After Saturday’s game against Texas Tech, the Cyclones tied a school record with their eighth straight victory and are off to their best start in school history. The last time the Cyclones had reached such a mark was 12 years ago. Needless to say, the team is thrilled by the current streak.

“[Being on an eight-game winning streak] feels awesome,“ said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “In this league, to have an eight-game winning streak is huge. I’m really excited about where we’re headed into the second half.”

Players and coaches alike understand that with a large winning streak comes an increased amount of pressure to keep the streak alive. The team remains adamant that its approach to playing the game will remain the same as always.

“We’re just taking it game-by-game,” said sophomore outside hitter Rachel Hockaday. “In practices, we’re working as hard as ever to maintain what we’ve done and to get to that next level.”

The team’s focus and determination has paid off as it now finds itself in sole possession of second place in the Big 12 with a 9-3 conference record and a 17-3 record overall. Throughout this span of games, Iowa State has been able to pick up wins against two ranked opponents in Texas A&M and, more recently, Nebraska.

During the team’s eight-game winning streak, Iowa State has held opponents to a combined hitting percentage of .140, including two games in which the opponent’s hitting percentage was below .100. The highest hitting percentage the Cyclones have allowed was .211 against Texas A&M.

One factor that has played an important role during the winning streak has been increased blocking. The Cyclones know they struggled in that category to begin the season. However, during this span of games, Iowa State has collected 84.5 blocks while its opponents have blocked 46 of Iowa State’s attempts.

Straube and sophomore middle blocker Debbie Stadick have been the catalysts for the defense, combining for 61 blocking assists and six solo blocks.

The Cyclones admitted the offensive portion of the game might have taken a back seat as they focused more on defense. However, a change in focus during practices led to what the team believes is a more a balanced attack.

“We’re such a defensive-minded team. Sometimes we focus so much on that, our offense starts to lag behind,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We’ve been working a lot on middle and right side in particular. Our [outside hitters] have been hitting great all year, and we wanted to pick it up a little bit.”

Offensively, the Cyclones have flourished. Senior outside hitter Victoria Henson has led the Cyclones in kills in the past eight games. Henson has collected 114 kills, including a 24-kill performance against Oklahoma.             

Senior setter Kaylee Manns leads the team in assists, with 329, and has had four games of 40 or more assists. Manns is also the Big 12’s leader in assists per set, with 12.15.

The team believes its recent surge in offensive production has been part of a total team effort that keeps the opponents guessing and keeps multiple offensive options open for the Cyclones.

“It starts with the pass. When the pass is good [Manns] is able to mix up the offense and set up [middle blockers] when she’s off the net,” Henson said. “And when she’s on the net she sets the floor, so it’s harder for the blockers to read off it, and that opens up a lot of options for us,” Henson said.

Iowa State is hitting a combined .267 during the current streak, good for a whole 127 points higher than its opponents.

“We’ve been working on hitting different shots,” Straube said. “Just being smart with the ball, that’s been huge for us.”

With rematches against Baylor, Texas and Nebraska coming up, Iowa State will continue to try to capitalize on its recent success in hopes that it will find itself on top of the Big 12 standings when the season is finished.