While the vast majority of the Cy-Hawk nation will have it’s eyes fixed on Jack Trice Stadium this weekend, another significant portion of the rivalry will take the stage at Carver Hawkeye

Arena in Iowa City on Friday night.

Another match in the Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk Series is up for grabs on the eve of the football game as the spotlight shines on each school’s volleyball teams.

The primary in-state rivalry is the featured match of the Hawkeye Challenge in Iowa City this weekend, which is the final nonconference event before the No. 11 Cyclones (5-1) kick off their Big 12 conference schedule next Wednesday. Drake and Northern Colorado round out the rest of Iowa State’s weekend competition.

After playing four matches in four days, Iowa State got to enjoy a bit of a break throughout this week, with no midweek competition and six days off between matches.

“We loved playing Northern Iowa (last Wednesday), that was great,” said coach Christy Johnson-Lynch. “But it’s also nice to have a week like this where you can just work on some things in practice, and we got a little rest by taking Monday off.”

The Cyclones are coming off of their first loss of the season to No. 9 Minnesota, in which they dropped a hard-fought 3-1 match in Minneapolis on Saturday night. Iowa State held at least a five-point lead in each of the first three sets against the Gophers, but only managed to convert on one of those opportunities.

“This break will help us review and reflect on Minnesota, as well as giving our bodies a rest,” said senior setter Kaylee Manns. “The Minnesota match was our first really tough match, and was kind of mentally draining for us. So it’s good to give us time to regroup and figure out where to go from here.”

Despite the loss, the Cyclones moved up in the AVCA poll to No. 11 — their highest ranking in program history.

Aside from the Minnesota match, the Cyclones had an easy time in polishing off the other competition over the weekend, with easy sweeps of George Washington and Auburn. Even though the team showed glimpses of sharp play in those matches, the coaching staff still sees plenty of room for improvement and have lots of things for the team to work on as their final nonconference match approaches.

“I didn’t feel like our middles and right side were that effective, especially against Minnesota, who puts a pretty big block up,” Johnson-Lynch said. “So we’re having those players hit against a big block this week so we’re ready for that, and we need to clean up our rotations a bit so we can be a little more creative on offense.”

Iowa State has been nothing short of dominant in recent years against the Hawkeyes, winning their last four in a row against Iowa while losing just three sets in the process.

A win on Friday for the Cyclones will even the all-time series with the Hawkeyes, as Iowa State’s recent hot streak has brought its record against Iowa to 20-21.

The first serve of the tournament for the Cyclones comes against Iowa at 7 p.m. on Friday night, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday with an early start against Drake at 10 a.m. and the tournament finale against Northern Colorado at 5 p.m.