The ISU volleyball team will open its Big 12 schedule and try to keep momentum going when it takes on Colorado at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday at Hilton Coliseum.

The 10th-ranked Cyclones (8–1) have had quite a week after gaining their highest AVCA poll ranking ever, as well as having junior outside hitter Victoria Henson and junior libero Ashley Mass named Big 12 offensive and defensive players of the week.

“It’s been a huge team effort so far this season,” Henson said. “Hopefully I can continue to help out our team so we can do well in the tournament this year.”

Mass was honored by the Big 12 for the eighth time and Henson received her second award. Their individual performances have fit in well with the team’s strong start to the season.

“The season has been really good so far, and getting these awards is a big opportunity for us,” Mass said.

Since suffering their first and only loss to Minnesota, the Cyclones have won three straight road games and are looking forward to being at home to start the conference schedule.

“It’ll be good to be home,” said head coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “We’ve been on the road for the last two weeks and it’s been a bit of a grind.”

Colorado is 5–4 on the season and is coming off a win against California Polytechnic State University to claim second place in its own Colorado Invitational. Under first-year coach Liz Kritza, the Buffaloes are in somewhat of a transitional period after losing 12-year coach Pi’i Aiu. Along with the coaching change, the team is dealing with a relatively new roster after losing a number of players to graduation and transfer.

“I think it’s a whole new team and they’re still trying to figure themselves out,” Johnson-Lynch said. “So I think we’ll have to be ready for different lineups and I think we’ll have to make adjustments on the fly with them.”

Going into Big 12 play, Johnson-Lynch believes the team’s biggest strengths lie in strong individual performances and team defense, noted by the Cyclones leading the Big 12 in digs per game.

“Every year, that’s a big emphasis for us and I think we’re a really good defensive and ball handling team,” Johnson-Lynch said.

On the other hand, the Cyclones will look to improve their hitting efficiency and blocking numbers. Johnson-Lynch said that last year’s team had some of the highest hitting efficiency numbers in her time as head coach and she would like to improve on them.

“Statistically I think we can do a lot better,” Johnson-Lynch said. “We want to work on that to become more efficient.”

A win for the Cyclones tonight would give them the best start in school history through 10 games. The odds may be on their side as the team is 3–1 in Big 12 openers under Johnson-Lynch. While the team is ranked higher than ever before and are also looking for their best start, Johnson-Lynch feels that this is no time to slow down.

“We want to continue to improve, we’ve never placed higher than fourth in the conference,” Johnson-Lynch said.

The Cyclones won’t have much breathing room after Colorado as they will be back in action on Friday night at No. 2 Texas.